DEP

PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION AR TMENT OF AGRICULT URE

2012

Science Accomplishments
2 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

The Pacific Northwest Research Station is a leader in the 

scientific study of natural resources. We generate and communicate 

impartial knowledge to help people understand and make informed 

choices about natural resource management and sustainability.

Vision and Mission

Tim Harrington

Mary Rowland

Logging debris survey in Washington. Field crew in the Wyoming Basin.

2
A Message From the Station Director.................................................. 4

Why Conduct Research? ....................................................................................... 5

PNW Research Station: The Setting........................................................ 7

Finances and Workforce........................................................................................ 8

Funding Partners in 2012..................................................................................... 9

Sharing What We’ve Learned......................................................................10

Climate Change.............................................................................................................15

Fire and Smoke............................................................................................................. 21

Forest Management Across Landscapes..................................... 29

Watersheds, Fish, and Wildlife................................................................... 39

Wood and Biomass.................................................................................................. 49

Experimental Forests and Ranges: 

 Highlights From H.J. Andrews and Starkey......................... 55

Honors and Awards................................................................................................. 63

PNW Research Station Organization................................................. 64

Contents

Luca Adelfio

A researcher installs a piezometer to measure water pressure and 

temperature in spawning gravels of the Little Martin River, Alaska. 

3
4 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

A Message From the Station Director

With a mix of both sadness

and excitement, I’ve embarked on a new 

chapter in my life—retirement. After 

more than 27 years with the Forest 

Service, I retired in December 2012. 

My tenure with this agency has been 

rewarding beyond my imagination—

and the last 6 years, which I spent 

here at the Pacific Northwest Research 

Station, were especially memorable.

As Station Director, I commissioned 

the newest addition to the Nation’s 

experimental forest and range network, Héen 

Latinee, in 2009. The station manages Héen 

Latinee, a Tlingit name that means “River 

Watcher,” in partnership with the Alaska Region. 

Its outstanding setting—which reaches from 

ridge to reef, from glacier to marine environment—helps the station conduct nationally 

significant research on how coastal temperate 

rainforests function. 

That same year, I was one of the signatories of 

a memorandum of understanding that paved the 

way for the Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center. The 

center now has 18 partners committed to making 

it a hub for temperate rainforest education and 

research in Juneau. 

The station’s commitment to research in Alaska 

will be further demonstrated in 2013 when 

employees move into the new Juneau Forestry 

Sciences Laboratory, adjacent to the University 

of Alaska Southeast. It, 

too, will be primed for 

collaboration and will 

eventually house station 

scientists along with 

colleagues from State 

and Private Forestry, the 

Forest Service’s Alaska 

Region, the University of 

Alaska Southeast, and the 

Alaska Coastal Rainforest 

Center. Through these 

partnerships, science will support adaptation 

to climate change and help develop sustainable 

management practices for the Forest Service 

in Alaska.

In 2012, the renovation of the Corvallis Forestry Sciences Laboratory was completed and 

the station welcomed the Siuslaw National Forest 

headquarters and U.S. Geological Survey to share 

the new space. This new proximity is creating 

synergy among scientists and land managers. 

In 2012, we met with stakeholders interested in 

the research at the Starkey Experimental Forest 

and Range over the years. Agreement on the value and need for continued research was readily 

apparent. This is how the station makes a lasting 

contribution: steady systematic learning. 

The climate change adaptation guidebook is 

another good example of systematic learning. 

Forest Service scientists started with one 

case study forest, then a second and a third. 

The guidebook has been adopted by the 

entire National Forest System and other land 

management agencies across the country as 

they develop adaptation options for responding 

to climate change.

Similarly, fire and smoke modeling is becoming 

indispensable to fire suppression activities around 

the country, contributing to the public’s health 

and well-being.

Consistency is key when it comes to data collection. The forest inventory and analysis presence 

in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, 

and the Pacific Islands yields invaluable information about the status and trends of forests year 

after year.

There is so much good work occurring at the 

station and with its partners; I am confident that 

the station is well positioned to continue providing timely, high-quality information to clients in 

the years to come.

Sincerely,

Station Director Bov B. Eav

Bov B. Eav

Tim LeBarge
Why Conduct Research?

Research Benefits Society. Forest Service 

research helps society make choices about water, wildlife, and 

natural resources.  Scientific understanding gained 

from research transforms the way land managers rise to 

challenges. For example, the tools and information used daily 

by managers and policymakers to make cost-effective and 

environmentally sound fire management decisions are based 

on research about fire behavior, fire ecology, fuels, and smoke 

in ecosystems.  As a result, citizens are provided 

ways to secure their homes from fire, are warned when smoke 

requires them to take precautions, and informed how forests 

can be managed to reduce fire risk in their communities.

Science-based knowledge and tools are being used to 

restore our Nations’ forests and protect their ability to 

provide clean water and air.  In doing so, jobs are 

created, forest products—from lumber for homes to Native 

American basketry materials—are provided, cities become 

greener and healthier, wildlife and fish prosper, and humans 

increase the quality of life for themselves, their children, and 

grandchildren.  Our Nation’s forests provide a bounty 

of oxygen, water, foods, and wood. Research gives society the 

means to understand this, appreciate the complexity inherent 

in forests, and ensure that the values from forests and 

grasslands are realized today and tomorrow. Pete Bisson Sherri Johnson

Copper River Delta field work, Cordova, Alaska. Decomposition study.

5
Jon Williams

Forest Inventory and Analysis crew in southeast Alaska. View of Mount Adams from Mount Rainier, Washington.

H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Oregon.

Buckhorn Wilderness, Washington.

6

James Dollins Rhonda Mazza

Steve Wondzell
2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 7

Seattle

Olympia

Wenatchee

6

7

Fairbanks

Anchorage

Juneau

Sitka

2

1

3

4

Portland

Corvallis Prineville

8

12

9

11

La

Grande

Seattle

Olympia

Wenatchee

Fairbanks

Anchorage



Juneau

Sitka

Portland

Corvallis Prineville

La

Grande

WASHINGTON

5

10

OREGON

ALASKA

PNW Research Station: The Setting

 Laboratories and Centers

• Alaska Wood Utilization and Development

Center (Sitka)

• Anchorage Forestry Sciences Laboratory

• Boreal Ecology Cooperative Research 

Unit (Fairbanks)

• Corvallis Forestry Sciences Laboratory

• Juneau Forestry Sciences Laboratory

• La Grande Forestry and Range 

Sciences Laboratory

• Olympia Forestry Sciences Laboratory

• Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences 

Laboratory (Seattle)

• Portland Forestry Sciences Laboratory

• Wenatchee Forestry Sciences Laboratory

• Western Wildland Environmental Threat

Assessment Center (Prineville)

 Experimental Areas

1. Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest

2. Caribou-Poker Creeks Research Watershed

3. Héen Latinee Experimental Forest

4. Maybeso Experimental Forest

5. Olympic Experimental State Forest

6. Entiat Experimental Forest 

7. Wind River Experimental Forest

8. Cascade Head Experimental Forest

9. Starkey Experimental Forest and Range

10. H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest

11. Pringle Falls Experimental Forest

12. South Umpqua Experimental Forest 

 The Pacific Northwest Research Station

 is one of five research stations in the

 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest 

 Service

 Headquarters are in Portland, Oregon

 11 laboratories and centers in Alaska,

 Oregon, and Washington

 12 active experimental areas (forests,

 ranges, and watersheds)

 Research is conducted in more than

 20 research natural areas

 390 employees (300 permanent and 

 90 temporary)
8 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

Finances and Workforce

Two sources of funding support the workforce of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station:

 federal appropriations, which contributed 80 percent of the funds in fiscal year 2012,

 and direct client support, which comes from organizations in need of scientific information.

The numbers below are for the fiscal year October 1, 2011, to September 30, 2012:

Incoming funding

 Base research appropriations: 

 $40.3 million (80%)

 Client support: 

 $10.2 million (20%)

 Total funding: $50.5 million

Distribution of funds

 Permanent employee cost: 

 $30.7 million (61%)

 Support and operations: 

 $10.6 million (21%)

 Distributed to cooperators: 

 $9.2 million (18%)

 Of the $9.2 million to cooperators, 

 84% went to educational institutions

Workforce statistics

 Total station workforce: 

 390 employees

 Permanent workforce: 

 300 employees

 Of the permanent workforce, 

 80 employees (27%) are scientists

 Temporary workforce: 90 employees

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

250

225

200

175

150

125

100

75

50

25

0

Support Scientists

Permanent employees by type

Number

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Incoming funding

Dollars in millions

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Base research appropriations Support from clients

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Total positions Permanent positions Temporary positions

Total employees

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

Number
2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 9

Funding Partners in 2012

Educational Institutions

Colorado State University

Cornell University

Loyola University

Michigan State University

Ohio State University

Oregon State University

Portland State University

University of Minnesota

University of Alaska

University of Hawaii

University of Montana

University of Nevada

University of New England

University of Oregon

University of Redlands

University of Vermont

University of Washington

Virginia Polytechnic Institute

Washington State University

Western Carolina University

Western Washington University

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Other Federal Agencies

Department of Commerce, National Oceanic 

 and Atmospheric Administration, National 

 Marine Fisheries Service

Department of Defense, Army Corps of 

 Engineers

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

 Land Management

Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, 

 Western Region

Foreign Institutes

New Zealand Crown Research Institute (Scion)

Nonprofit Organizations

Association for Fire Ecology

Cascadia Conservation District

Earth Economics

Earth Incorporated

Earth Systems Institute

Forterra

Mount St. Helens Institute

National Council for Air and Stream 

 Improvement, Inc.

Resources for the Future, Inc.

Society of Wood Science and Technology

Student Conservation Association, Inc.

Sustainable Northwest

The Institute for Culture and Ecology

The Research Foundation for the State 

 University of New York 

World Forestry Center

Zoological Society of San Diego

Private Industry and Associations

Carlson Small Power Consultants

Paoag's Black, Inc.

Cooperators Who Received Funding From the PNW Research Station for Studies

Clients Who Provided Funding to the PNW Research Station for Studies

Educational Institutions

Oregon State University

University of Oregon

Washington State University

Other Federal Agencies

Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers 

Department of Defense, United States Army, 

 Joint Base Lewis-McChord

Department of Energy, Bonneville Power 

 Administration

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

 Land Management

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

 Ocean Energy Management

Department of the Interior, Fish and 

 Wildlife Service

Department of the Interior, Geological Survey

Environmental Protection Agency

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 

 Goddard Space Flight Center

Nonprofit Organizations

Ecological Research, Inc.

Ecotrust

National Fish and Wildlife Federation

Northwest Power and Conservation Council

The Wolverine Foundation, Inc.

Municipal or Township Governments

Seattle City Light

State Agencies

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Oregon Department of Forestry

Washington Department of Natural Resources
10 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

165 journal articles

(62%)

35 station series (13%)

21 books or chapters (8%)

6 theses and dissertations (2%)

6 proceedings (2%) 33 other (12%)

Number of publications

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

600

550

500

450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Sharing What We've Learned

The station produced 266 publications in 

fiscal year 2012. This includes station series 

publications, journal articles, books or book 

chapters, theses and dissertations, and other 

publications.

 158,202 hard copies of station publications 

distributed

 37,336 electronic publication downloads for 

the station’s Web site and Treesearch (www.

treesearch.fs.fed.us)

 4,106 station publications available online via 

the station’s Web site and Treesearch

 11 issues of PNW Science Findings published, 

about 8,000 copies of each issue distributed 

or downloaded 

Web Visitors

 Total number of visits: 90,862 from 161 

 countries and territories

 Total number of unique visitors: 53,166

 Total number of page views: 222,205

 Percentage of new visitors: 55.73%
2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 11

Our Most Popular Publications

All of the station’s publications are available online. The station’s top 

10 most frequently downloaded publications are listed below. Some 

of these publications are decades old but still relevant today.

1. Responding to Climate Change in National Forests: A Guidebook 

for Developing Adaptation Options (2011; PNW-GTR-855) 

2. Production, Prices, Employment, and Trade in Northwest Forest

Industries, All Quarters 2010 (2011; PNW-RB-260) 

3. Natural Vegetation of Oregon and Washington (1973; PNW-GTR-008)

4. Synthesis of Knowledge of Extreme Fire Behavior: Volume I for

Fire Managers (2011; PNW-GTR-854) 

5. Adaptive Management of Natural Resources: Theory, Concepts, 

and Management Institutions (2005; PNW-GTR-654) 

6. Adapting to Climate Change at Olympic National Forest and

Olympic National Park (2011; PNW-GTR-844)

7. FRAGSTATS: Spatial Pattern Analysis Program for Quantifying

Landscape Structure (1995; PNW-GTR-351) 

8. The Formula Scribner Log Rule (1952; OSN-PNW-078) 

9. Engineering a Future for Amphibians Under a Changing Climate

(2011; Science Findings 136) 

10. Ecological Characteristics of Old-Growth Douglas-Fir Forests

(1981; PNW-GTR-118) 

Twitter

The station's Twitter account has 766 followers—up from 560 in 2011. 

Reporters, natural resource professionals, and nonprofit groups comprise 

the majority of subscribers, who receive instant electronic alerts (tweets) 

to station news releases, new publications, and other information.

RSS Feeds

Readers can receive alerts about new publications by subscribing to 

a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed at www.fs.fed.us/pnw/RSS/

index.shtml.
12 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

SHARING WHAT WE'VE LEARNED

Symposia, Workshops, and Tours

BlueSky Training: Station scientists led two 

training session for National Forest System 

staff using the BlueSky framework to model 

fire information, fuel loading, smoke dispersal, 

and more. About 50 people attended the training in Redmond, Oregon, and 45 attended the 

training in Missoula, Montana. 

Forest and Fire Scenarios Workshops: Station 

scientists organized workshops in Klamath 

Falls and Bend, Oregon, with 24 representatives from forest management and nongovernmental organizations. Attendees shared 

information about factors affecting forests and 

fire; scientists provided a tutorial on how to 

use scenario planning to address uncertainties and connections in ecological and social 

systems.

Density Management in the 21st Century: At 

this 3-day conference, 120 natural resource 

professionals reviewed 20 years of thinning 

research in young forests of western Oregon 

and Washington. Forty-five people participated 

in a related 1-day field trip. 

Density Management Study Tours: Station 

scientists led two tours through the Green Peak 

and Delph Creek study sites for 85 natural 

resource professionals and explained the ongoing Density Management and Riparian Buffer 

study designs and research findings. The tours 

were cosponsored by Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Office.

Assessing the Impact of Climate Change in 

Alaska’s Forests: The station hosted workshops in Fairbanks, Juneau, Sitka, Kenai, 

Haines, Anchorage, and Palmer with 22 key 

clients and research partners. Participants 

developed a conceptual framework to describe 

the impacts of climate change across Alaska 

forests. 

Blue Mountains Elk Habitat Modeling 

Workshop: Station scientists and partners 

presented ground-breaking models depicting 

elk nutritional resources and habitat selection 

in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon and 

Washington. The models can benefit land 

management plan revisions and habitat restoration for elk in this region. The workshop was 

held in Pendleton, Oregon, where 140 people 

participated. 

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) 2012 

Client Meetings: PNW-FIA held symposiums 

in Portland and Honolulu to discuss current 

research activities in the respective regions. 

The second day featured training workshops 

where clients received help with analyzing FIA 

data to answer challenging resource questions. 

Seventy clients attended.

National Emissions Inventory Workshop:

Station scientists taught 40 people how to use 

local data to improve the National Emissions 

Inventory for Wildland Fire at the International 

Emissions Conference in Tampa, Florida.

Next Generation Genetic Sequencing Workshop: This workshop introduced 54 participants to the essentials of next-generation 

sequencing. The workshop was part of the 

Botanical Society of America’s 2012 annual 

meeting in Columbus, Ohio.

Sudden Oak Death Science Symposium: 

National and international leaders in the discipline of forest pathology and ecology came 

together to discuss and present their research 

findings on Phytophthora ramorum, the 

pathogen that causes sudden oak death. About 

150 people attended the event in Petaluma, 

California.

In 2012:

 ~920 people participated in symposia, 

 workshops, and webinars sponsored 

 by the station.

 ~1,630 people went on field trips led 

 by station researchers.

 ~1,510 people participated in conser-

 vation education activities sponsored 

 by the station.

The station sponsors learning events each 

year, often in partnership with other agencies, 

organizations, and universities. A few events 

are highlighted below.
2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 13

Conservation Education

Station scientists make time to share their 

expert knowledge with students and their 

teachers through programs ranging from classroom activities to week-long field camps. A few 

activities from 2012 are highlighted below.

Forest Camp 2012: Station and Siuslaw 

National Forest staff taught roughly 200 

sixth graders about ecology and the role of 

fungi in forest ecosystems at Camp Tadmore, 

Lebanon, Oregon. 

Forests Inside Out! The station continued 

its partnership with the nonprofit World 

Forestry Center in Portland to support Forests 

Inside Out!, a successful summer conservation 

education program. This program is a series 

of 2-day immersive and unforgettable indoor 

and outdoor experiences for 400+ children 

ages 6 to 10 and family members from diverse 

and underserved communities in the greater 

Portland metropolitan area. The program 

promotes active, healthy outdoor lifestyles 

for young children and their families and 

introduces participants to urban forests, 

natural areas, and national forests. Eight 

high school and college-age students from 

the Portland area were hired as mentors for 

the program. 

Héen Latinee Outdoor Classroom Project: 

This collaboration between the Central Council 

of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska 

and the station introduced nine Alaska Native 

high school students to natural resource 

management.

Inner City Youth Institute: The station 

continued its support of the Inner City 

Youth Institute (ICYI), which encourages 

underrepresented youth to pursue higher 

education and careers in the natural resource 

and environmental fields. ICYI sponsored 

forest ecology programs in Portland inner city 

high schools and a summer camp program 

for high school students from Portland and 

southwest Washington. About 200 students 

participated in ICYI programs. 

Children examine animal skulls during the summer program Forests Inside Out!

Becky Bittner
credit

14 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

High school students learn about ecology on Mount St. Helens.

Learning on Mount St. Helens: The station 

and partners are using the Mount St. Helens 

landscape as a living laboratory for teaching 

middle school teachers and their students 

about disturbance ecology and natural history. 

Twelve middle school teachers and 40 middle 

school students attended this workshop at the 

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. 

Another 60 students from the Battle Ground 

School District, Washington, learned about the 

life history, reproductive biology, and general 

ecology of amphibians of Clark County in 

classroom, laboratory, and field settings.

Minorities in Agriculture and Natural 

Resources Research: About 25 high school 

students from Roosevelt High School, Portland, Oregon, attended presentations about 

aquatic ecology research and natural 

resource management.Ray Yurkewycz, Mount St. Helens Institute
Climate Change

Station scientists conduct research to provide land managers and 

decisionmakers with information and tools to prepare for environmental change 

triggered by a changing climate.  This research ranges from landscape 

management to the genetics of a plant’s ability to cope with drought.  It 

addresses the physical repercussions of warmer temperatures, such as changes 

in the amount of snow versus rain, frequency of drought, timing of snow melt, 

and severity of storms.  Station research also addresses the social and 

economic implications of changes in forests and rangelands. 

Mount St. Helens, Washington.

A precipitation collector at H.J. 

Andrews Experimental Forest.

15

Bruce Marcot

Rhonda Mazza
Illustration by Keith Routman

16 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

CLIMATE CHANGE

 Social vulnerability to climate change 

varies depending on geographic location and unique cultural and economic 

relationships with the land.

 Prescribed burns can be timed so that 

wind currents do not transport sooty 

black carbon to the Arctic. The Environmental Protection Agency included this 

information in its May 2012 report to 

Congress. 

 The guidebook Responding to Climate 

Change in National Forests is being used 

throughout the National Forest System 

and by other federal agencies and institutions to develop options for adapting 

to climate change. 

 Scientists synthesize what is known 

about U.S. forest carbon dynamics 

and prospects for forest-based carbon 

mitigation. 

 Station scientists developed methods to 

identify genes responsible for climate 

sensing and adaptation in Douglas-fir, 

evaluate conservation units in salmon 

and carnivores of management concern, 

and identify geographic provenance of 

illegally collected timber.

 Snowpack and soil drainage determine 

where yellow-cedar will survive.

Highlights in 2012

Researchers Document Social 

Vulnerability and Climate Change

The effects of climate change are expected 

to be more severe for some segments of 

society than for others. American Indian 

and Alaska Native tribes, for example, have 

unique cultures and economies that are 

vulnerable to climate change. Resulting 

environmental changes could threaten ways 

of life, subsistence, and access to natural 

resources. Because some populations may 

have less capacity to prepare for, respond 

to, and recover from climate-related 

hazards, they may be particularly 

vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

This new synthesis documents the 

socioeconomic effects of climate change 

on indigenous, low-income, and rural 

resource-based communities.

Contact: Susan Charnley, scharnley@fs.fed.us

Partner: University of Oregon

For more information: Lynn, K.; MacKendrick, 

K.; Donoghue, E.M. 2011. Social vulnerability and 

climate change: synthesis of literature. Gen. Tech. 

Rep. PNW-GTR-838. Portland, OR: U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest 

Research Station. 70 p. 
Steve Wondzell

CLIMATE CHANGE

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 17 Cowlitz Park, Mount Rainier 

National Park, Washington.

Guidebook Adopted as Foundation 

for Climate Change Adaptation on 

National Forests

Station scientists and collaborators

developed this climate change guidebook 

using a science-management partnership 

approach. The guidebook provides 

information on climate change education 

and explains how to conduct vulnerability 

assessments and adaptation planning. It 

describes various tools and processes that 

have been tested in national forests and 

provides scientific documentation.

The guidebook is the basis for adaptation 

principles and applications cited in the forest 

sector technical report for the 2013 U.S. 

Global Change Research Program National 

Climate Assessment. 

Contact: David L. Peterson, peterson@fs.fed.us

Partners: USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest 

Research Station and Rocky Mountain Research 

Station, University of Washington

For more information: Peterson, D.L.; Millar, C.I.; 

Joyce, L.A.; Furniss, M.J.; Halofsky, J.E.; Neilson, R.P.; 

Morelli, T.L. 2011. Responding to climate change in 

national forests: a guidebook for developing 

adaptation options. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-855. 

Portland, OR: U.S., Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 109 p. 

Stored Carbon Potential in Western 

Cascades Forests Projected to Change 

During the 21st century, climate-driven 

changes in fire regimes will be a key agent 

of change in Pacific Northwest forests. 

Understanding the response of forest carbon 

dynamics to increases in 

fire will help quantify limits 

on the contribution of forest 

carbon storage to climate 

change mitigation. 

Scientists examined these implications for 

the state of Washington, moving beyond a 

previous focus on stand-level carbon dynamics 

models of fire behavior and fire effects. Forests 

of the western Cascades are projected to be 

more sensitive to climate-driven increases in 

fire, and thus projected changes in carbon 

dynamics, than forests of the eastern Cascades. 

This landscape approach helps facilitate fire 

management planning at a broader scale than 

any other currently available study. 

Contact: Don McKenzie, donaldmckenzie@fs.fed.us

Partners: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric 

Administration, University of Washington

Information 

helps manage 

fire to minimize

carbon loss.
New Genome Analysis Methods Are 

Cost-Effective for Understanding 

Changes in Trees, Fish, and Wildlife

Next-generation sequencing of DNA is revolutionizing all aspects of biology, making it 

possible to identify the genes that control 

adaptive traits like disease resistance, growth 

rate, and reproductive output. 

Despite modern 

instruments, 

forest plants and 

animals remain a 

challenge to analyze 

genetically. For example, conifer tree genomes 

are large, show extensive redundancy in genes, 

and comprise numerous repeated sequences. 

This complexity makes it difficult to sequence 

the large number of individuals needed to 

identify adaptive variation in population- or 

landscape-level analyses. 

18 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

CLIMATE CHANGE

The Science Behind Forest-Based 

Carbon Mitigation 

A station scientist participated in a task 

force brought together by the Society of 

American Foresters to synthesize current 

science on forest carbon dynamics, carbon 

and climate change policy, and bioenergy. 

The task force synthesized information from 

more than 200 publications and published 

forest inventory statistics to highlight what 

is known about forest carbon dynamics and 

prospects for forest-based carbon mitigation 

in the United States.

The report was submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory 

Board Biogenic Carbon Emissions Panel for 

consideration during policy development. 

The report also has been used in briefings 

with congressional staffs and as assigned 

reading in university courses. Its key findings were featured in the magazines Biomass 

and Wood Bioenergy.

Contact: Jeremy Fried, jsfried@fs.fed.us

Partners: Dovetail Partners, Mississippi State 

University, National Council for Air and Stream 

Improvement, Society of American Foresters, 

State University of New York Syracuse, University 

of California, University of Georgia, University of 

Washington, USDA Forest Service Washington Office

For more information: Malmshimer, R.W.; Bowyer, 

J.L.; Fried, J.S. [et al.] 2011. Managing forests because 

carbon matters: integrating energy, products, and 

land management policy. Journal of Forestry. 

109(7S): S7–S50. 

Geneticists at the PNW Research Station 

evaluated existing methods for genome 

analysis and identified two approaches—

genome reduction and genome skimming—

that show the greatest promise for adaptation 

for genetic analysis of forest and range species. 

These methods extend a previous innovation 

developed at the station and combine to make 

cost-effective approaches for genome analysis 

forest species.

Contact: Richard Cronn, rcronn@fs.fed.us

Partners: Brigham Young University, Linfield College, 

Oklahoma State University, Oregon State University

Mitigating Airborne Soot That 

Hastens Arctic Warming 

A new study of the ability of emissions to 

be transported to the Arctic is providing 

managers and policymakers with information 

relevant to mitigating Arctic black carbon 

deposition from the United States. 

Black carbon is the sooty particulate matter 

produced by incomplete combustion of fossil 

fuels, biofuels, and biomass. It readily absorbs 

sunlight and warms the atmosphere. When 

By predicting which plume injection heights have the 

capability to reach the Arctic, timing of prescribed burns 

and other fire operations may be shifted to mitigate 

negative impacts on the Arctic. The map shows a 

prediction for April 23, 2012, done two days in advance. 

It shows little transport potential over much of the 

country except along the eastern seaboard.

Methods that identify 

genes responsible for 

climate sensing and 

adaptation help conserve 

salmon and carnivores 

and identify illegally

 collected timber. 
Innovative modeling that incorporates information about topography, drainage, and predicted snowpack in a warmer climate 

is being used in a conservation effort to identify suitable habitat for yellow-cedar in the future. 

Paul Hennon

From Cause to Conservation: 

Understanding Yellow-Cedar Decline

Yellow-cedar decline has affected about 60 

to 70 percent of trees in forests covering 

600,000 acres in Alaska and British Columbia. 

Yellow-cedar’s shallow rooting, early spring 

growth, and unique vulnerability to freezing 

injury contribute to its decline in Alaska’s 

coastal forests. The tree thrives in wet soils, 

but its tendency to produce shallow roots to 

access nitrogen on these sites makes it more 

vulnerable to fine root freezing in late winter 

and early spring in years with little snow 

to insulate the tree’s roots. To be effective, 

conservation and management activities need 

to follow the shifting snow patterns on the 

landscape.

Current and future yellow-cedar health 

can be predicted across landscapes based on 

patterns of snow and soil drainage. Coastal 

Alaska is expected to experience less snow but 

a persistence of periodic cold weather events in 

the future. Station scientists are working with 

federal land managers in Alaska to use this 

information as the framework for a comprehensive yellow-cedar conservation strategy 

that factors in climate change.

Contact: Paul Hennon, phennon@fs.fed.us, 

and David D’Amore, ddamore@fs.fed.us

Partners: Stanford University; USDA Forest 

Service Alaska Region, Northern Research Station; 

University of Vermont

CLIMATE CHANGE

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 19

deposited on snow, it absorbs light and heat 

and accelerates melting. This study used a 

30-year climatology of atmospheric transport 

patterns along with a real-time forecasting system. Scientists found that even in locations and 

seasons where emissions can be transported to 

the Arctic quickly during most days, there are 

still a number of windows when Arctic transport does not occur. By conducting prescribed 

burning and other emissions activities during 

these windows when transport does not occur, 

mitigation of Arctic black carbon deposition is 

possible. 

This work was used in the Environmental 

Protection Agency’s Report to Congress on 

Arctic Black Carbon, finalized in May 2012. 

Specifically the work identified ways to mitigate Arctic black carbon deposition and yet 

avoid seasonal bans on prescribed burning. 

This work also was presented to U.S. Forest 

Service Fire and Aviation Management in 

Washington, D.C., and at a meeting in Moscow 

with the Russian Engineering Academy of 

Management and Agrobusiness. 

Contact: Sim Larkin, larkin@fs.fed.us

Partners: Joint Fire Science Program, Sonoma 

Technology, Inc., USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, 

U.S. State Department
Trees invading subalpine meadow on the Priest River Experimental Forest, Idaho.

USDA Forest Service

20 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

CLIMATE CHANGE

Estimating Carbon Loss From Tundra Fire 

Arctic tundra soils store large amounts of carbon in organic soil layers. Fire has been largely 

absent from most of this biome for thousands 

of years, but its frequency and extent are 

increasing. The effect 

of fires on the carbon 

balance of tundra landscapes, however, remains 

largely unknown. In 

2007, the Anaktuvuk River fire burned 1000 

square kilometers of Alaska tundra and was 

the largest tundra fire on record. Estimating 

carbon loss, particularly in the organic soils, 

was a critical step to understanding the effects 

of fire in the tundra. Researchers developed a 

method for estimating carbon loss based on 

the size of remaining tussocks and the depth 

of organic layer versus tussock meristems. This 

method allowed them to quantify carbon loss 

of the Anaktuvuk River fire at approximately 

2000 grams of carbon per square meter. 

These results indicate that the magnitude 

of ecosystem carbon lost by fire in tundra 

ecosystems could represent a positive climate 

feedback potentially offsetting Arctic greening 

and influencing the net carbon balance of the 

tundra biome.

Contact: Teresa Hollingsworth, 

thollingsworth@fs.fed.us

Partners: Marine Biological Laboratory; 

University of Alaska Fairbanks; University of 

Florida; USDI Bureau of Land Management, 

Alaska Fire Service 

Trees Advance Into Subalpine Meadows 

Tree invasions have been documented 

throughout subalpine meadows in the Northern Hemisphere. This study in the Oregon 

Cascade Range helps scientists and managers 

to better understand how topography, snow, 

climate, and seed source affect the shift from 

meadow to forest, and how these ecotones may 

respond to future climate conditions. 

Scientists used an innovative approach to 

combine airborne Light Detection and Ranging 

(LiDAR) characterizations of landforms, topography, and overstory vegetation with historical climate, field measurements of snow depth, 

tree abundance, and tree ages to reconstruct 

spatial and temporal patterns of tree invasion 

over five decades in a subalpine meadow complex in the Oregon Cascade Range. They found 

that the proportion of meadow occupied by 

trees increased from 8 percent in 1950 to 

35 percent in 2007.

They also found that the larger landforms 

such as debris flows, topography, and tree 

canopies interactively mediated regional 

climatic controls of tree invasion by modifying 

depth and persistence of snowpack, while tree 

canopies also influenced seed source availability. These findings were shared with recreation 

and resource personnel on the Willamette 

National Forest. The Siuslaw National Forest is 

using related meadow research to help establish reference conditions guiding meadow 

restoration treatments on Marys Peak. 

Contact: Demetrios Gatziolis, dgatziolis@fs.fed.us, 

and Tom Spies, tspies@fs.fed.us

Partners: Oregon State University, 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Fire managers use 

innovative method 

to estimate carbon

 loss in tundra.
Fire-related research at the station provides science-based knowledge and tools that 

enable land managers and fire professionals to reduce fuels and wildfire risk at the landscape level 

and minimize overall risk to property and human life.  During large wildfires, for example, station 

scientists provide customized smoke modeling that is used by local air quality agencies to alert the public 

about hazardous air conditions.  Weather variability, declining snowpacks, insect infestations, and 

fuel accumulations are all components of environmental change that is expected to lead to increased 

costs and risks associated with fire and fire suppression.  Station scientists are working with 

public land managers, private landowners, and federal and state agencies to find ecologically sound 

and economically feasible methods for mitigating these conditions.

Fire Smoke

Field technician measures remaining fuel after 

a prescribed burn on Nenana Ridge, Alaska. 2002 Biscuit Fire in southwestern Oregon.

21

Roger Ottmar

Tom Iraci
2012 High Park Fire, Colorado.

22

FIRE AND SMOKE

USDA Forest Service

 Customized smoke projections and 

analyses were developed to guide public 

health outreach during major wildfires in 

California, Colorado, Utah, Washington, 

and Wyoming in 2012. 

 A study linked mortality from smoke to 

2003 southern California fires.

 The Environmental Protection Agency 

is using new techniques developed by 

station scientists and collaborators to 

create the next national emissions inventory for wildland fire. 

 A new National Fuels Database is 

publicly available and can be used to 

model real-time carbon emission of 

individual fires and continental-scale 

simulations of air quality.

 Principal Findings of the National Fire and 

Fire Surrogate Study is published, summarizing 206 technical articles stemming 

from the 12-site network of this national 

study initiated in 1996 in response to 

stated management needs.

 The National Wildfire Coordinating 

Group uses a new knowledge synthesis 

about extreme fire behavior and the 

way science is shared with the fire 

management community to inform 

revisions to training curriculum.

 The Bureau of Land Management Alaska 

Fire Service and Alaska State Division of 

Forestry are using findings from a study 

on fuel treatments in boreal forests to 

develop policy that will apply the most 

effective and least costly fuel treatment to 

the landscape for community protection 

from wildfire.

Highlights in 2012

Smoke Modeling Helps 

Protect Public Health

Customized smoke projections and analyses 

guide public health outreach during major 

wildfires in California, Colorado, Wyoming, 

and Utah. 

Station scientists provided customized 

smoke modeling for the High Park Fire west 

of Fort Collins, Colorado. As new fires started, 

they adopted a regional focus and provided 

smoke dispersion projections for fires burning 

in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. They provided similar support for the Halstead Fire in 

Idaho, wildfires in eastern Washington, and 

all the wildfires burning in northern California in 2012. 

The smoke from these fires created a 

significant public health challenge because 

of unhealthy air quality conditions and 

reduced visibility in transportation corridors. 

The Environmental Protection Agency used 

these data and expert analyses provided by 

station scientists in their Exceptional Events 

assessments. The information also was shared 

with state and local air quality agencies in the 

areas affected by the fires.

Contact: Miriam Rorig, mrorig@fs.fed.us

Partners: Desert Research Institute; Mazama Science; 

National Weather Service; Sonoma Technology, Inc.; 

USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region, Rocky 

Mountain Region, Fire and Aviation Management, and 

Wildland Fire Management Research, Development, 

and Application 
2006 Bluegrass Fire, Oregon.

FIRE AND SMOKE

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 23

Tom Iraci

Research Estimates Cost of 

Smoke-Related Deaths 

Wildfire raises concerns about the human 

health effects of smoke exposure. Very little 

is known about the mortality impacts and the 

resulting social costs of wildfire smoke. The 

wildfires in 

southern California 

in late October 

2003, some of the 

largest ever to 

burn near a major 

U.S. urban area, provided an opportunity to 

assess the impacts of smoke. These fires 

burned 750,043 acres, cost $123 million to 

suppress, and were linked to the deaths of 133 

people, predominantly elderly. The mean 

estimated total mortality-related cost associated with these wildfires is approximately $1 

billion. The relationship between smoke and 

human health allows for a better understanding of the tradeoffs between fire risk reduction 

treatments and fire suppression. 

Contact: Geoffrey Donovan, gdonovan@fs.fed.us

Partners: Colorado State University, University de 

Ciudad Juárez, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain 

Research Station

New Techniques Improve National 

Emissions Inventory for Wildland Fire

Created every 3 years, the Environmental 

Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) National Emissions 

Inventory forms the basis of regulatory 

modeling and numerous other studies 

including global climate change greenhouse 

gas reports, regulatory policy decisions, and 

state and federal implementation plans. 

Station scientists worked with numerous 

stakeholders including federal agencies, 

regional planning organizations, state 

agencies, air quality 

regulators, and the 

EPA to significantly 

improve the national 

emissions inventory 

for wildland fire. 

The inventory now significantly improves 

overall estimates of fire size, fuel loading, fuel consumption, and emissions by 

utilizing additional data sets and a new 

methodology for combining and reconciling disparate data sets into a unified data 

stream. 

The Forest Service’s Fire and Aviation 

Management unit has expanded this 

effort to create a 10-year climatology of 

wildland fire (both prescribed fire and wildfire). Development of additional techniques 

is being funded by a research grant from the 

Joint Fire Sciences Program.

Contact: Sim Larkin, larkin@fs.fed.us

Partners: Joint Fire Science Program, Michigan 

Technology Research Institute, National Wildfire 

Coordinating Group Smoke Committee, Sonoma 

Technology, Inc., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

USDA Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management, 

U.S. Department of the Interior 

Smoke from the 2003 

wildfires in southern 

California associated with 

133 human deaths from

 cardiorespiratory illness. 

EPA uses 

techniques to 

create the next 

national emissions 

inventory for 

wildland fire.
As part of a fuel reduction study at the Pringle Falls Experimental Forest in central Oregon, a masticator shreds 

small trees and shrubs after selective harvest of larger trees. 

Rhonda Mazza

24 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

FIRE AND SMOKE

Researchers Build a National Fuels 

Database for Multi-Scale Applications 

Local air quality and fire managers use 

fine-scale data and models to estimate smoke 

pollution and schedule prescribed fires. However, few resources are currently available for 

estimating emissions from wildfires in real 

time, at subcontinental scales, in a spatially 

consistent manner. To remedy this, station 

researchers created fuel maps at both 30-meter 

and 1-kilometer resolution, using vegetation 

types generated by the LANDFIRE project. 

Geographically specific rules were developed 

for associating each of these vegetation types 

with a Fuel Characteristic Classification System 

fuelbed. The database is publicly available and 

can be used in diverse modeling efforts from 

real-time carbon emission calculations for 

individual fires to continental-scale simulations 

of air quality.

Contact: Don McKenzie, donaldmckenzie@fs.fed.us

Partners: Michigan Tech Research Institute, 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

To access database: www.fs.fed.us/pnw/fera/

fccs/maps.shtml

12-Site National Study Informs 

Choices About Fuel Reduction 

The national Fire and Fire Surrogate study 

was designed to evaluate how alternative fuel 

reduction treatments influence a multitude of 

ecological effects in seasonally dry forests. 

This report summarizes results from 206 

technical articles stemming from the 12-site 

network of this national study. Some general 

conclusions: for most sites, treatments modified 

stand structures and fuels to the point where 

posttreatment stands would be expected to 

be much more resilient to moderate wildfire. 

Although ecological effects tend to dampen 

with time, fire risk appears to increase due to 

treatment-induced collapse of burned portions 

of stands. Mechanical treatments do not serve 

as surrogates for fire for most ecosystem 

components, suggesting that fire could be 

introduced and maintained as a process in 

these systems whenever possible. The critical 

components of these ecosystems are strongly 

linked, thus fuel reduction work may be most 

effective when designed with the entire ecosystem in mind. 

Contact: Andrew Youngblood, ayoungblood@fs.fed.us

Partner: Oregon State University

For more information: McIver, J.; Erickson, K.; 

Youngblood, A. 2012. Principal short-term findings of 

the national Fire and Fire Surrogate study. Gen. Tech. 

Rep. PNW-GTR-860. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research 

Station. 210 p. 
An explanation of fire dynamics in conifer forests is one of many aspects of extreme 

fire behavior explained in a new knowledge synthesis for fire managers.

Bruce Marcot

FIRE AND SMOKE

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 25 Odell Butte Fire

Lookout, Oregon.

What Contributes to Extreme Fire 

Behavior That Fire Managers See Today?

Experts synthesized the latest science on 

weather patterns, fuel, and topographic factors 

that contribute to extreme fire behavior. This 

project stems from fire managers’ expressed 

need to have a comprehensive understanding 

of the latest science related to extreme fire 

behavior. Volume 1 of this Joint Fire Science 

Program project also examines how science is 

presented to the fire management community, 

including incident commanders, fire behavior 

analysts, incident meteorologists, National 

Weather Service office forecasters, and 

firefighters. The authors found that current 

training does not include the full extent of 

scientific understanding, particularly newer 

research related to the influence of wind 

profiles on fire behavior. This synthesis has 

been distributed to land management offices 

across the country. 

Contact: Brian Potter, bpotter@fs.fed.us

Partners: Canadian Forest Service; CSIRO, Australia; 

Joint Fire Science Program; San Jose State University; 

Southern Research Station; USDA Forest Service Rocky 

Mountain Research Station; Weather Research and 

Consulting, LLC

For more information: 

Werth, P.A.; Potter, B.E.; 

Clements, C.B.; Finney, M.A. 

[et al.] 2011. Synthesis of 

knowledge of extreme 

fire behavior: volume I 

for fire managers. Gen. 

Tech. Rep. GTR-PNW-854. 

Portland, OR: U.S., Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service, Pacific Northwest 

Research Station. 144 p.
Roger Ottmar

26 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

FIRE AND SMOKE

Field technicians place devices for measuring forest 

floor consumption prior to a prescribed burn in this 

boreal forest south of Fairbanks, Alaska.

A First-of-Its-Kind Study Tests 

the Efficacy of Fuel Treatment 

in Alaska’s Boreal Forest 

Mechanical and manual fuel treatments 

have become the preferred strategy for 

reducing fire hazard in the boreal forest. 

Prior to this study, however, the actual effect 

of these fuel treat-

ments on fire behavior 

and fuel consumption 

in boreal forests had 

not been measured. 

To fill this gap, scientists assessed two major 

fuel treatments, thinning trees and mechani-

cal shearing of trees and shrubs, by measur-

ing fire behavior and consumption of fuels 

on the forest floor following a stand-replace-

ment, prescribed fire. They found that both 

treatments decreased fire behavior, although 

the thinning treatments were more effective.

The USDI Bureau of Land Management 

Alaska Fire Service and Alaska State Division 

of Forestry are using the findings to develop 

policy that will apply the most effective and 

least costly fuel treatment to the landscape 

for community protection from wildfire.

Contact: Roger D. Ottmar, rottmar@fs.fed.us

Partners: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 

Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of 

Forestry, University of Alaska, USDA Forest Service 

Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDI Bureau of 

Land Management Alaska Fire Service 

Alaska agencies use 

findings for costeffective wildfire

 protection policies. 
Sherri Johnson

FIRE AND SMOKE

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 27 Stream at H.J. Andrews 

Experimental Forest, Oregon.

Strengths and Vulnerabilities 

Better Understood in Fish and 

Fire Communications 

Communication between scientists and natural 

resource managers is essential to effectively 

address pressing issues related to natural 

resource management. Station scientists used 

a social network analysis to map, analyze, and 

facilitate improvements in communication and 

collaboration networks among managers and 

scientists concerned with the effects of wildland 

fire, fuels treatments, and postfire restoration on 

riparian and aquatic ecosystems.

They found that the Fish and Fire Communica-

tion and Collaboration Network contains many 

relationships among scientists linked by a few 

senior individuals but far fewer relationships 

between scientists and managers. Unless federal 

agencies can foster new relationships among 

scientists, impending retirements are likely to 

fragment the scientist subnetwork, impeding 

knowledge generation and communication. Insti-

tutional initiatives that encourage scientists and 

managers to collaborate can enhance informa-

tion exchange, innovation, and problemsolving 

related to fish and fire issues.

Contacts: Kelly Burnett, kellymburnett@fs.fed.us, 

or Paige Fischer, paigefischer@fs.fed.us

Partners: Oregon State University; National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, Fisheries Service; USDA 

Forest Service national forests in Oregon, Washington, 

and Idaho; USDI Bureau of Land Management, Fish and 

Wildlife Service, and Geological Survey
28 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

FIRE AND SMOKE

Soil Microbes Undaunted, 

Soil Nutrients Reduced by 

Postfire Logging

Better understanding about 

the impacts to soil following 

the harvest of fire-killed trees 

contributes to the success of 

recovery projects on fire sites 

in dry, mixed-conifer forests 

with volcanic soils.

Large areas of fire-killed 

trees are ready fuel when 

another fire occurs. Postfire 

logging removes some of this 

large dead wood and may 

reduce this future fire risk. 

However, the harvesting equipment used in postfire logging 

disturbs forest soils, and frequently results in soil compaction, reducing soil pore size and 

decreasing oxygen availability, 

water, and nutrient movement 

to tree roots. The effects of this 

mechanical disturbance on soil productivity 

and forest recovery differs in terms of severity, 

time since disturbance, and site factors. To 

alleviate compaction, the practice of subsoiling 

or deep tillage is used to fracture the lower 

soil strata. But there’s a tradeoff: tillage may 

degrade soil structure, adversely affecting 

microbial biomass and diversity. 

This short-term study was developed 

to fine tune postfire treatments that help 

speed the forest recovery process. Scientists 

found that soil bacteria and fungi essential 

to mediating decomposition and nutrient 

cycling appeared resilient to timber harvesting applications, but nutrients critical to soil 

productivity were reduced. 

Contact: Jane E. Smith, jsmith01@fs.fed.us

Partners: Joint Fire Science Program, Oregon State 

University, Pacific Northwest Fire Consortium, USDA 

Forest Service Deschutes National Forest

Citation: Jennings, T.N.; Smith, J.E.; Cromack, K., Jr.; 

Sulzman, E.W.; McKay, D.; Caldwell, B.A.; Beldin, S.I. 

2012. Impact of postfire logging on soil bacterial 

and fungal communities and biogeochemistry in a 

mixed-conifer forest in central Oregon. Plant and 

Soil. 350: 393-411. DOI: 10.1007/s11104-011-0925-5. 

www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/40807

Fungi and soil bacteria essential to mediating decomposition and nutrient cycling appeared resilient to disturbance from salvage logging. 

Jane Smith
Forest Management 

 Across Landscapes

Since 1908, when Thornton Munger laid out the first study plots in what would become 

the Wind River Experimental Forest, the station has been at the forefront of forestry research in 

the Pacific Northwest. This research has provided the scientific basis for forest management in 

the region.  Forests and rangelands of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska are experiencing 

unprecedented levels of biological and environmental disturbances.  Scientists with the station 

are developing tools and techniques to identify and prioritize at-risk ecosystems, including mapping 

forest structure and composition, an essential first step in most landscape-scale endeavors, and 

modeling and assessing trends in disturbance across public and private land.  Land managers 

are using this information to develop management options that promote a forest’s resilience to 

environmental stressors.  In this way, the flow of benefits from forests will be sustained. 

Forest inventory technician near Eugene, Oregon. Pringle Falls Experimental Forest, Oregon.

29

Janelle Cossey

Rhonda Mazza
30 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

FOREST MANAGEMENT ACROSS LANDSCAPES

 Improvements identified for stewardship contracting and processes associated with the 

National Environmental Policy Act.

 The Forest Service Ecosystem Services Valuation 

Working Group is using information from a new 

report, Evaluating Tradeoffs Among Ecosystem 

Services in the Management of Public Lands, to 

develop a technical advice bulletin for Forest 

Service staff.

 Renters will pay more for rental housing with a 

tree in the yard. The city of Portland is using this 

finding to help promote its goal of increasing the 

city’s tree canopy. 

 The projected spread of amber-marked birch leaf 

miner in Anchorage, Alaska, provides the city with 

needed information to address the infestation. 

 Tree breeders are using genetic information about 

the growth performance of Douglas-fir to improve 

productivity.

 Improvements to the small-tree components of the 

Forest Vegetation Simulator, a popular tool among 

forest managers, enables users to more accurately 

predict how different management actions will 

affect small trees.

 The Bureau of Land Management is modifying 

national and regional policies on management of 

sagebrush ecosystems and the associated species 

of conservation concern, based on work by station 

scientists and partners.

 Novel techniques enable mapping of old-growth 

forest and disturbance over time. This information 

will be used to help evaluate the efficacy of the 

Northwest Forest Plan throughout the region.

Highlights in 2012

Managing for Ecosystem Services on Public Land

With the new forest planning rule, the U.S. Forest Service has formally adopted the 

concept and language of ecosystem services to describe the beneficial outcomes 

of forest management. A new report reviews the economic theory of ecosystems 

services as it applies to public lands management under the new planning rule and 

considers what it implies about the types of biophysical and other data needed for 

characterizing management outcomes as changes in ecosystem services. The report 

serves as a guide to policymakers, managers, researchers, and others for evaluating 

and describing the tradeoffs involved in the management of public lands. 

The Ecosystem Services Valuation Working Group within the Forest Service is 

using the report to develop a technical advice bulletin for Forest Service staff. The 

technical advice bulletin will guide national forest staff in their efforts to consider 

the relative contributions and values of ecosystem services in forest planning and 

other decisionmaking situations. 

Contact: Jeff Kline, jkline@fs.fed.us

Partners: Environmental Protection Agency, University of Rhode Island 

For more information: Kline, J.D.; Mazzotta, M.J. 2012. Evaluating tradeoffs among 

ecosystem services in the management of public lands. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-865. 

Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest 

Research Station. 48 p. www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/40875

The term “ecosystem services” is used to describe the ways in which people benefit from nature. 

Clean water and air, wildlife habitat, and scenic beauty are examples of services provided by a 

healthy ecosystem. Above, Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon. 

Tom Iraci
FOREST MANAGEMENT ACROSS LANDSCAPES

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 31

Housing Density on Forest and 

Farm Land Increasing in Oregon

Scientists found that land use change in 

Oregon slowed between 2005 and 2009 as the 

economy entered recession in 2007. Conversion to urban uses fell to the lowest level in the 

35-year study period. The number of housing 

units per square mile, however, has continued 

to increase on private land remaining in forest, 

agricultural, and range uses since 1984. This 

set of studies, started in 1973, has been used 

by the Oregon legislature to inform land use 

policy over the past decade.

Contact: David Azuma, dazuma@fs.fed.us

Partner: Oregon Department of Forestry

Renters in Portland Will 

Pay More for Trees

Understanding how people respond to environmental characteristics, such as trees, can be 

good for business. On average, rental houses 

with trees in Portland, Oregon, commanded 

higher rents. Specifically, a tree in the yard 

increased monthly rent by over $5.00. A tree 

in the public right-of-way increased rent by 

$21 a month. These results are consistent 

with a previous study in Portland showing 

that a street tree adds $7,130 to the sale price 

of a house. 

Urban planners, policymakers, local governments, and the volunteer group Friends of 

Trees have been using this 

information to make the 

case for urban forestry. For 

example, the city of Portland is using these studies 

to help promote its goal of 

increasing the city’s tree 

canopy to 33 percent; the 

city’s tree canopy coverage 

is currently 26 percent.

Contact: Geoffrey Donovan, 

gdonovan@fs.fed.us

Partner: National Institute of 

Standards and Technology

Improvements Identified for 

Stewardship Contracting 

In 2003, Congress granted stewardship contracting authority to the Forest Service in an 

effort to support disposal of low-value material, 

such as woody biomass, through the removal 

of higher-value products. This mechanism for 

trading goods for services has great potential 

to help the Forest Service accomplish its hazardous fuel reduction goals and increase community benefits. Yet adoption of this authority 

has been inconsistent and slow. Station scientists conducted case studies of four fire-prone 

national forests, two in California and two in 

Oregon, to determine what factors are influencing the use of this management tool. 

They found that an education campaign for 

local management units about stewardship 

contracting could be helpful, but is not likely 

to be enough. Ensuring adoption of new policy 

tools such as stewardship contracting across 

the Forest Service will require a broad set of 

strategies to support early adopters as well as 

those hesitant to try new approaches. 

Contact: Susan Charnley, scharnley@fs.fed.us

Partner: University of Oregon

Consumer appreciation for trees is an indication of broader, intangible 

benefits people receive from the natural environment. Above, a rental 

house in Portland, Oregon. 

Geoffrey Donovan
Retain Staff During NEPA Processes to 

Help Reduce Administrative Appeals 

The National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) requires the assessment and public 

disclosure of the likely impacts of any major 

land management activity. During this process, any public entity can challenge the 

resulting decision through an administrative 

appeal, which can cost the agency considerable additional time and effort. Appeals also 

delay and sometimes prevent proposed project 

implementation. 

The Forest Service may be able to mitigate 

the risk of administrative appeals by using 

public involvement to achieve buy-in, creating 

consensus between the interdisciplinary team 

and the decisionmaker, and limiting turnover 

of agency staff during the process. 

Improved direct supervision for those performing complex NEPA-related tasks 

is another area for agency improvement. 

Contact: David Seesholtz, dseesholtz@fs.fed.us

Partners: Auburn University, University of IllinoisSpringfield, Virginia Tech 

Chris MacQuarrie, University of Alberta, Bugwood.org

32 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

FOREST MANAGEMENT ACROSS LANDSCAPES

Birch leaf miner infestation.

Scientists Model Future Infestations 

of Amber-Marked Birch Leaf Miner 

in Anchorage 

The amber-marked birch leaf miner 

(Profenusa thomsoni) is a leaf-eating insect 

that has infested trees in Anchorage since 

1996. The infestations create distinct, patchy 

landscape-scale patterns involving multiple 

trees synchronized across multiple urban 

neighborhoods. These patches appear to 

migrate across neighborhoods from year to 

year. Areas of relatively high intensity one 

year experience relatively low intensity the 

following year. This study generated spatial 

distribution models of the leaf miner in the 

Anchorage area and compared and contrasted 

spatial distributions across years.

The infestations have received much attention by homeowners, extension agents, and 

researchers. Thousands of dollars have been 

spent trying to reduce the insect’s impacts. 

Effective management techniques to mitigate 

its impacts over landscape scales remain 

elusive. 

The modeling methods developed here 

enable the numerical analysis of invasive 

insect populations across large spatial and 

long temporal scales. The model also projects future insect infestation levels and 

distributions. 

Contact: John Lundquist, jlundquist@fs.fed.us

Partners: Colorado State University; Municipality 

of Anchorage; University of Alaska-Fairbanks, 

Cooperative Extension Service 
A volunteer plants a greenway in the Seattle area. 

Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 33

Tool

Making the Little Things Count: 

Improvements to the Small-Tree 

Components of the Forest 

Vegetation Simulator

Description: 

Forest managers have become more focused on 

the growth of small trees in recent years owing 

to an increasing interest in developing more 

complex stands. Scientists revised the model 

components that predict the growth and survival 

of small trees in the Forest Vegetation Simulator 

(FVS) to make model projections more accurate 

and to better account for management actions 

such as variable-density thinning. These changes 

have been incorporated into the variants of FVS 

that are used for west-side forests in Oregon and 

Washington.

Use: 

The FVS is widely used by forest managers within 

federal, state, and private organizations. The 

improved variants allow forest managers to more 

accurately predict how different actions will affect 

small trees. The FVS can be used to compare how 

well small trees fare following treatments such 

as uniform thinning or treatments that include 

thinning with “skips” (unthinned areas) and “gaps” 

(areas where all overstory trees are removed). 

Managers can also use FVS to evaluate the growth 

and survival of different species when they are 

planted in the understory to help promote the 

development of complex, multiaged stands.

How to get it: 

www.fs.fed.us/fmsc/fvs

Contact:

Peter Gould, pgould@fs.fed.us

Partners: 

Oregon State University, USDA Forest Service 

Forest Management Service and Pacific Northwest Region, USDI Bureau of Land Management

Volunteers Come for Camaraderie, 

Stay for Ecological Benefits

Thousands of volunteers participate in environmental stewardship projects each year in 

the Puget Sound region of Washington. These 

efforts include working in parks, planting 

street trees, and 

restoring riparian 

areas. Yet little is 

known about who 

volunteers and 

why. This information is important as agencies and organizations increasingly turn to stewardship as an 

approach to improving landscape health. 

Station scientists and collaborators worked 

with representatives from nine Seattle environmental organizations and surveyed 

volunteers at several environmental stewardship events to explore their experiences 

with stewardship and generate a big-picture 

perspective on the rationale behind participating in these activities. They found that 

people who participate in urban stewardship 

activities vary in their motivations: personal, 

social, and community reasons are likely to be 

as important as their concern for the environment. The work people contribute on behalf of 

urban natural resources is also an act of social 

stewardship in caring for one’s neighborhood 

and community. 

Contact: Dale Blahna, dblahna@fs.fed.us

Partners: EarthCorps, Forterra, King County, 

University of Vermont, University of Washington 

To better attract and

retain citizen stewards, 

it’s important to understand the values that

 motivate participation. 
Tree breeders are using new information about the influence of neighboring trees and interactions among 

genotypes on tree growth to further Douglas-fir improvement programs. Above, a study site on Weyerhaeuser 

land near Mill City, Oregon. 

Brad St. Clair

34 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

Growth Performance in Tree 

Improvement Program Depends 

on Neighbors

Tree improvement programs identify genotypes that are expected to perform well in 

operational plantings, yet relatively little is 

known about how the relative performance of 

genotypes is influenced by the proximity and 

genotype of neighboring trees. Scientists 

measured the growth of trees that were a 

sample of genotypes in a Douglas-fir tree 

improvement program. The findings indicate 

that the relative performance of families 

in Douglas-fir tree improvement programs 

depends on competition from neighbors as 

determined by stand density and the specific 

mixture of genotypes. Diameter growth is 

affected to a greater degree than height and 

crown morphology traits such as crown 

width and leaf area relative to branch length 

are important for explaining differences in 

performance. 

Tree breeders are using this information to 

decide which traits may be important to consider for improving genetic gains in productivity in tree improvement programs. Results 

are also being incorporated into decisions on 

traits to include in new growth models for 

Douglas-fir.

Contact: Brad St. Clair, bstclair@fs.fed.us

Partners: Northwest Tree Improvement Cooperative, 

Weyerhaeuser NR Company

Citation: Gould, P.J.; St. Clair, J.B.; Anderson, P.D. 

2011. Performance of full-sib families of Douglas-fir 

in pure-family and mixed-family deployments. 

Forest Ecology and Management. 262: 1417–1425.

Landscape Restoration Strategy for 

Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest 

Based on Planning Tool Developed

by the PNW Research Station

Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest managers and station scientists have pooled their 

resources over the past 15 years to create a 

restoration strategy and an advanced, customizable landscape evaluation and restoration 

planning tool. The tool is used to evaluate key 

changes and restoration needs of modern-day 

terrestrial landscapes. Analogous aquatic, 

fish, and road system modules are under 

development. 

The strategy has been implemented across 

the forest; every ranger district has at least 

one project underway using these tools, and 

some have several. Tool development is ongoing and the restoration strategy is under revision to incorporate new science. By evaluating 

large landscapes, project design and planning 

related to the National Environmental Policy 

Act can be done more efficiently and better 

focus on ecological outcomes and landscape 

conditions. Work is underway to initiate a new 

multiownership, multistakeholder project with 

the Tapash Collaborative Forest Landscape 

Restoration Program.

Contact: Paul Hessburg, phessburg@fs.fed.us

Partners: USDA Forest Service Fire and Aviation
Sagebrush habitat, home to sage-grouse and many birds and small mammals, is sensitive to disturbances such 

as oil and gas extraction, communication towers, agricultural uses, and invasive cheatgrass.

Mary Rowland

FOREST MANAGEMENT ACROSS LANDSCAPES

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 35

Assessment of Wyoming Basins 

Ecoregion Provides Basis for Managing 

Sagebrush Ecosystems 

Station scientists collaborated with the U.S. 

Geological Survey and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in conducting a multiyear ecoregional assessment of habitat threats across 

the Wyoming Basins 

Ecoregion. The team 

relied on protocols 

previously developed 

by PNW researchers 

for the Great Basin ecoregional assessment. 

The assessment provides new information on 

distribution, abundance, and habitat relations 

of many species of concern in the sagebrush 

ecosystem, focusing on impacts of human 

disturbance. 

The BLM requested this ecoregional assessment for use in managing sagebrush habitats 

under their jurisdiction within the Wyoming 

Basins Ecoregion. This area is a stronghold 

of the sagebrush ecosystem, but threats in 

this ecosystem are many. Human land uses 

are associated with declines in habitat quality 

and quantity for many sagebrush-associated 

species. Energy development has increased 

rapidly in this region. The greater sage-grouse, 

American pronghorn, and sage sparrow are 

some of the many wildlife species that depend 

on sagebrush habitats in the Wyoming Basins.

Contact: Mary Rowland, mrowland@fs.fed.us, and 

Michael Wisdom, mwisdom@fs.fed.us

Partners: USDI Bureau of Land Management

and Geological Survey

For more information: 

sagemap.wr.usgs.gov/wbea.aspx

New Synthesis Examines Role of 

Carbon and Carbohydrates in Tree 

Growth During Drought 

Models predicting growth of woody vegetation may overestimate growth rates if some 

of the chemical compounds resulting from 

photosynthesis are unavailable for growth, 

especially when plants are water-stressed. 

Research on the degree to which carbon 

availability limits tree growth, as well as recent 

climate trends and concurrent increases in 

drought-related tree mortality, have led to a 

renewed focus on the mechanisms underlying 

tree growth responses to current and future 

climates. The synthesis discusses key issues 

such as the extent to which carbohydrate 

storage in trees is passive versus active, the 

extent to which growth is carbon limited, and 

why trees as long-lived organisms may need 

large stored carbohydrate pools to cope with 

environmental stresses. Its publication in Tree 

Physiology, an international scientific journal, 

is expected to influence and inform future 

research on environmental impacts on carbon 

partitioning in trees.

Contacts: Rick Meinzer, fmeinzer@fs.fed.us, and 

David Woodruff, dwoodruff@fs.fed.us 

Partner: University of Montana

BLM uses information 

to modify policies on 

the management of

sagebrush ecosystems. 
Janelle Cossey

36 A field technician navigates a blowdown. PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

FOREST MANAGEMENT ACROSS LANDSCAPES

Analysis of Ancient Tree Rings 

Allows Scientists to Reconstruct 

Past Climate Conditions 

Paleoclimate proxies based on the measurement of wood anatomy have rarely been 

developed across the temperature range of 

a species or applied to wood predating the 

most recent millennium. Scientists recently 

did this, however, by examining variation in 

xylem vessel anatomy in tree rings of extant 

and subfossil bur oaks (about 10,000 to 15,000 

years old). They used this information as a 

proxy to reconstruct spring climate conditions. 

They found that xylem vessel characteristics 

provided consistent proxies for spring tem-

perature conditions across the current range 

of bur oak. When these proxies were applied to 

vessel characteristics in rings of subfossil bur 

oak, inferences about late Quaternary climate 

in central North America were consistent with 

those derived from other climate proxies such 

as ice cores and pollen records. 

These findings are a significant addition to 

the toolbox of approaches for reconstructing 

past climates by using tree rings and other 

proxies. The ability to use variation in char-

acteristics of tree rings to reconstruct past 

climatic conditions strengthens our ability 

to predict responses of trees to anticipated 

future climate regimes.

Contact: Rick Meinzer, fmeinzer@fs.fed.us

Partners: Oregon State University, Southern 

Oregon University, University of Missouri
The Northwest Forest Plan covers 57 million acres in Washington, Oregon, and California. This map sequence shows 

change in area of older forest (left) over the 15-year monitoring period, the proportion of forest disturbed (middle), 

and the predominant cause of disturbance (right).

FOREST MANAGEMENT ACROSS LANDSCAPES

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 37

Novel Techniques Enable Mapping 

of Old-Growth Forest and Disturbance 

Over Time

This effort produced estimates of 

late-successional old-growth forest on all 

ownerships within the boundaries of the 

Northwest Forest Plan from a regionally 

consistent inventory design. Novel 

statistical mapping techniques 

were used to map 

and assess the distribution and trends of 

late-successional old-growth forest over 

the monitoring periods 1994 to 2007 in 

California and 1996 to 2006 in Washington 

and Oregon. 

The results support the assumption 

made in the Northwest Forest Plan that 

the primary responsibility for maintaining or restoring old-growth forest in the 

Pacific Northwest would fall to public lands. 

Federal lands contained less than half of 

the total forest land, but the federal share 

of total late-successional old-growth forest 

increased from 65 to 67 percent over the 

monitoring period. 

Contact: Janet Ohmann, johmann@fs.fed.us

Partner: Oregon State University

Work helps evaluate 

the efficacy of the 

Northwest Forest Plan 

throughout the region.
38 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

FOREST MANAGEMENT ACROSS LANDSCAPES

Tim Harrington

Field crew on the Savannah River site in South Carolina. 

Encouraging Understory 

Diversity in Pine Plantations 

A management regime that 

includes pine thinning every 8 to 

10 years can be used to sustain a 

vigorous community of herbaceous 

species in stands of longleaf pines 

less than 30 years old. Where 

dense understories of hardwoods 

and shrubs have formed, woody 

control with herbicides will sustain 

increases in abundance and diversity of herbaceous species for 14 

years or more. 

This work was conducted on the 

Savannah River Site, a National 

Environmental Research Park in 

the Coastal Plain of South Carolina. Combinations of pine thinning and control of understory hardwoods and shrubs were applied to 

8- to 11-year-old plantations of longleaf pine. 

Both the thinning and woody control treatments were equally successful at promoting 

herbaceous species during the first 8 years 

after treatment. The woody control treatment, 

however, sustained the increases through year 

14 because pine thinning stimulated increased 

abundance of hardwoods and shrubs, which 

competitively excluded herbaceous species.

Contact: Tim Harrington, tharrington@fs.fed.us

Partners: University of Georgia, 

USDA Forest Service Savannah River

Coniferous and Deciduous Tree 

Species Use Contrasting Strategies 

to Maintain Hydraulic Function 

Under Drought Stress

In much the same way that scuba divers can 

develop dangerous nitrogen bubbles in their 

bloodstreams, trees can develop air bubbles 

(called embolisms) in the water-transporting cells of their wood. These air bubbles 

inhibit water transport, which has several 

consequences including reduced growth, cell 

desiccation, and tree death. The likely reversal of embolism development is thought to 

occur through the conversion and transport of 

sugars and water from specialized cells (called 

parenchyma) into the water-transporting cells 

(tracheids or vessels); deciduous trees appear 

to have more of these parenchyma cells than 

conifers. Conifers, however, can more effectively avoid developing embolisms by shutting 

down transpiration, which is a water-consuming process that allows trees to photosynthesize. In a sense, deciduous trees appear to be 

better at repairing embolisms, while conifers 

appear to be better at avoiding them in the first 

place. 

The research represents a new understanding of the means by which plants cope with 

drought and the structural and functional 

tradeoffs that are involved in the different 

approaches that are used by plants to maximize assimilation while minimizing risk of 

hydraulic failure. As the future likely brings 

greater risk of drought, a more complete 

understanding of the tradeoffs associated 

with plants’ responses to the stress will be 

crucial for our management of both wild 

and agricultural lands. 

Contact: David Woodruff, dwoodruff@fs.fed.us

Partners: Duke University, Oregon State University
Watersheds, Fish, and Wildlife

Snow-topped mountain to headwater stream, river valley, and estuary: they 

all are connected by moving water.  A watershed approach to management requires 

understanding the connections between terrestrial and aquatic systems in the upper and 

lower reaches of a drainage.  Station research is leading to new knowledge about 

watershed processes.  Water is a key resource that will be affected by climate change. 

Droughts, floods, rain instead of snow, rain on top of snow: the effects of these events will 

ripple throughout the system.  Understanding how watersheds will respond to these 

changes is critical for managing habitat for fish and wildlife.  After a powerful storm led 

to large debris flows in streams in the Capitol State Forest, scientists began monitoring the 

recolonization of stream organisms. Their finding that species recover at different rates, coupled 

with models of hillslope stability, can inform management in areas with unstable soil.

Red fox. Copper River Delta, Alaska. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Steve Wondzell

39
40 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

WATERSHEDS, FISH, AND WILDLIFE

 A new model demonstrates how 

nutrients flow from land to streams 

in coastal temperate rainforests.

 Streambed substrate in small headwater streams can moderate water 

temperature.

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service uses 

procedure for conducting expert panels in decision process to reintroduce 

threatened bull trout to Clackamas River. 

 Biology and Conservation of Martens, 

Sables, and Fishers: A New Synthesis is 

published.

 First wolverine births documented in 

Washington state since the early 1900s.

 Red fox are native to eastern United 

States, not colonial transplants.

 Toads persist, despite drought, 

predators, and disease, in the 

central Oregon Cascades.

Highlights in 2012

Terrestrial Systems Provide Key 

Nutrients to Streams in Coastal 

Temperate Rainforests

Scientists developed a soil watershed model 

to demonstrate how terrestrial chemical 

export provides nutrient subsidies to streams 

in the Alaska coastal temperate rainforest. They quantified the flow of water and 

nutrients from terrestrial ecosystems and 

identified the associated chemical quality of 

the constituents in the water. The rich material produced and exported from soils was 

rapidly transported from soils to streams 

along flowpaths that traverse the entire 

breadth of the landscape. 

The flow of water and nutrients is a 

key component in maintaining the rich 

biodiversity of terrestrial and aquatic 

resources such as trees and salmon. This 

flow is now recognized as an important 

ecosystem function that varies across the 

hydrologic gradient of ecosystems in the 

Alaska coastal temperate rainforest. 

Contact: David D’Amore, ddamore@fs.fed.us

Partner: University of Alaska Southeast

The flow of water and nutrients from mountain top to sea is vital to maintaining the rich biodiversity in coastal 

temperate rainforests. Above, a marsh in the Copper River Delta, Alaska.

Steve Wondzell
WATERSHEDS, FISH, AND WILDLIFE

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 41

Delineating Riparian Zones in Alaska’s 

Coastal Temperate Rainforest Requires 

Broader Perspective

Conventional ways of defining and delin-

eating riparian areas and management do 

not incorporate the intense biogeochemical 

interactions between marine, freshwater, and 

terrestrial ecosystems present within the 

Alaska’s coastal temperate rainforest. In these 

forests with extensive wetlands and saturated 

soils, the riparian zone functions as an inter-

face between terrestrial and marine systems. 

Effective management of this area requires 

a perspective broader than that normally 

used. Potential climate change impacts on 

riparian function within the Tongass National 

Forest, for example, exceed the effects of 

active management.

This perspective has been used by the 

USGS Landscape Conservation Cooperative in 

setting the research agenda. This information 

is expected to be used by nongovernmental 

agencies, local and regional governments, 

and federal agencies to help set research and 

policy agendas to deal with changes in riparian 

function related to climate change in southeast 

Alaska. 

Contact: Rick Edwards, rtedwards@fs.fed.us

Partners: Audubon Society, University of Washington 

Copper River Delta, Alaska. Steve Wondzell
Sensors in a streambed measure water temperature.

Steve Wondzell

42 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

WATERSHEDS, FISH, AND WILDLIFE

Streambed Influences Water 

Temperature in Small Headwater 

Streams

Very small headwater streams may be fundamentally different than many larger streams 

because factors other than shade from the 

overstory tree canopy can moderate stream 

temperatures, even following complete removal 

of the overstory canopy.

Researchers found that maximum daily 

temperatures of small headwater streams had 

variable sensitivity to forest harvest. Some 

streams warmed by several degrees after 

clearcut harvesting, both with and without 

riparian buffers. In other streams, the thermal 

regime did not change, regardless of the harvest treatment. Thermal sensitivity appeared 

to be broadly determined by substrate, with 

coarser streambeds likely facilitating hyporheic exchange and thereby limiting thermal 

sensitivity. Among streams with finer textured 

streambeds, the exposed surface area of water 

appears to determine the magnitude of thermal 

response.

This study was designed to inform decisions 

on forest practices rules for small headwater 

steams in Washington state. It is also one of 

several recent studies contributing information 

to a joint science review of riparian forest management by the U.S. Forest Service and National 

Oceanographic and Atmospherics Administration Fisheries Service. 

Contact: Steve Wondzell, swondzell@fs.fed.us

Partners: Washington Department of Ecology, 

Washington Department of Natural Resources

Stream Junctions Provide 

Cool Habitat for Fish 

Cooler water temperatures at the junction of 

headwater streams and lakes benefit fish using 

near-shore habitats by decreasing need for 

foraging and lowering the risk of predation. 

Station scientists examined small, fishless 

headwater streams to determine if transported 

macroinvertebrates augmented the food 

availability for sculpins (Cottus asper) of 

the near-shore lake habitats into which they 

flowed. Although streams did not appear to 

contribute to the composition or abundance 

of macroinvertebrates, the sculpin showed a 

slight preference for stream junctions. Juvenile 

sculpins responded to cooler temperatures 

at stream junctions and to predation risk 

from larger adults. These findings suggest 

that headwater streams can contribute to the 

downstream ecology indirectly by making it 

easier for foraging species to find food, thus 

reducing exposure to predation risk.

Contact: Karl Polivka, kpolivka@fs.fed.us

Partners: Cascadia Conservation District, 

University of Alaska-Fairbanks
WATERSHEDS, FISH, AND WILDLIFE

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 43

Cutthroat trout 

returned to previous 

habitat and were 

more abundant than 

before a major debris 

flow 4 years prior 

in the Capitol State 

Forest, Washington. Alex Foster

Aquatic Organisms Recolonize Streams 

at Different Rates After Major Debris 

Flows in Western Washington

A powerful storm in December 2007 resulted 

in large debris flows in two streams in the 

Capitol State Forest in western Washington. 

These streams had several years of prestorm 

data, providing a rare opportunity to examine 

the recovery of aquatic habitats in headwater 

channels and their subsequent recolonization 

by trout and other aquatic species. Distinct 

patterns of recolonization among species 

were evident from 2008 to 2011. Cutthroat 

trout returned to all previously inhabited 

stream reaches, and their abundance in 

debris flow-affected channels after 4 years 

exceeded predisturbance levels. Tailed-frog 

tadpoles rebounded to predebris flow levels, 

but crayfish have been slow to recover. 

Recolonization by sculpins varied among 

sites, and western brook lamprey present 

before the disturbance have not yet returned. 

The removal of migration barriers such as 

logjams and waterfalls by the debris flows may 

have increased the upstream extent of fish 

distribution from predisturbance locations.

These findings coupled with models of 

hillslope stability may help to explain species 

distribution patterns and influence management actions in areas with unstable soils. The 

findings can also be used to inform decisionmakers about potential risks of land management decisions in areas with at-risk species.

Contact: Alex Foster, alexfoster@fs.fed.us, 

and Pete Bisson, pbisson@fs.fed.us

Partners: Washington Department of Fish and 

Wildlife, Washington Department of Natural 

Resources, Wild Fish Conservancy 

After the Dam: Lessons From 

the Sandy River, Oregon

Over the past decade, the number and size 

of dams removed on rivers across the United 

States have been increasing. Dam removal 

typically involves release of at least some of 

the sediment stored in the reservoir behind 

the former dam. As released sediment moves 

downstream, it has the potential to dramatically change the form and behavior of 

the downstream channel. Nowhere has this 

been more closely studied than on the Sandy 

River, outside Portland, Oregon, following the 

removal of Marmot Dam in 2007. At the time, 

its removal produced the largest intentional 

release of sediment from any dam removal in 

history.

A new report describes how the Sandy River 

responded to the release of sediment over the 

next 2 years. Key findings include (1) an energetic river can rapidly incise and remove large 

volumes of unconsolidated stored sediment, 

even under very modest flows; (2) channel 
44 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

WATERSHEDS, FISH, AND WILDLIFE

A Rigorous Procedure for 

Holding Expert Panels 

Over the years, dozens of expert panels have 

been held by the Forest Service and partners 

on a variety of local and regional environmental projects. Elicitation of expert knowledge in 

panel settings is often 

used to fill in major 

data gaps and provide 

management recommendations. Prior 

to this effort, no consistent procedure existed 

for ensuring scientific credibility and rigor. 

This project provides a general framework and 

specific methods usable for any such expert 

paneling task.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service used this 

step-by-step procedure for eliciting knowledge 

and judgment from a panel of experts in the 

decisionmaking process to reintroduce the 

threatened bull trout to the Clackamas River, 

Oregon.

Contact: Bruce Marcot, bmarcot@fs.fed.us

Partners: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office

For more information: Marcot, B.G.; Allen, C.; 

Morey, S.; Shively, D.; White, R. 2012. An expert panel 

approach to assessing potential effects of bull trout 

reintroduction on federally listed salmonids in the 

Clackamas River, Oregon. North American Journal 

of Fisheries Management. 32(3): 450–465.

change is initially quite rapid but diminishes 

over time as sediment sources diminish; and 

(3) allowing rivers to naturally process stored 

sediment rather than manually removing it 

before dam removal may be a tractable option 

for coarse, clean sediment in cases where 

sediment deposition will not create a flood 

risk downstream.

Contact: Gordon Grant, ggrant@fs.fed.us

Partners: Graham Matthews and Associates, 

Johns Hopkins University, U.S. Geological Survey

For more information: Major, J.J.; O’Connor, J.E.; 

Podolak, C.J.; Keith, M.K.; Grant, G.E. [et al.]. 2012. 

Geomorphic response of the Sandy River, Oregon, 

to removal of Marmot Dam. Professional Paper 1792. 

Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological 

Survey. 64 p. pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1792/pp1792_text.pdf.

Scientists have studied the fate of sediment released by the 2007 Marmot Dam removal on the Sandy River 

in Oregon. Allowing a river to naturally process the sediment is a viable option when it doesn’t pose a flood 

risk downstream. 

Gordon Grant

Panel procedure used

to help reintroduce 

bull trout to Oregon’s

 Clackamas River.
2012 marked the 30th year of toad monitoring in the central Oregon Cascade Range. 

Dede Olson

WATERSHEDS, FISH, AND WILDLIFE

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 45

Toads Tough it Out in Central 

Oregon Cascade Range

Toads persist at study sites in the Oregon 

Cascades despite documented episodic losses 

from water mold, raven predation, drought 

years, overexploitation by recreationists, and 

suspected infection with chytridiomycosis.

In 1990, a global alert reported unexplained 

declines of amphibian populations. This alert 

resulted in research that continues today on 

the effects on amphibians of habitat alteration, 

invasive species, UV-b radiation, chemical contaminants, climate change, and disease. 

Research on amphibians in the Oregon Cascade Range began in 1982 and was continued 

in response to the 1990 alert. Few long-term 

amphibian monitoring efforts span three 

decades. Research on western toads (Anaxyrus 

boreas) and sympatric frogs and salamanders 

from sites monitored since 1982 has contributed to a better understanding of the roles of 

disease, UV-b radiation, climate change, and 

interspecies interactions in amphibian population dynamics, and has led to multiple research 

syntheses that continue to inform the science 

and management communities.

Contact: Dede Olson, dedeolson@fs.fed.us

Partner: Oregon State University
46 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

WATERSHEDS, FISH, AND WILDLIFE

Snag Sampling Method for 

Riparian Monitoring Tested 

Many young Douglas-fir forests in western 

Oregon and Washington are being managed to 

restore riparian ecosystem function by increasing variability in species composition and 

spacing among trees, and providing standing 

dead trees, or “snags,” as habitat for a variety 

of organisms. Sampling is typically used to 

quantify forest structural characteristics, and 

the accuracy of any sampling method depends 

on the characteristic being quantified. Prior 

research identified sampling designs that were 

most effective in quantifying the dominant 

conifer component of riparian forest structure. 

However, when these same sampling designs 

were evaluated with respect to characterizing 

the infrequent hardwood tree or snag component, scientists found that the accuracy and 

precision of estimates generally decreased. The 

fundamental elements of the sampling design, 

however, were still the best option relative to 

other common sampling configurations. 

These findings are being used in the design 

of monitoring schemes for research assessing alternative riparian forest management 

strategies and have a larger applicability to 

operational monitoring by a variety of entities 

engaged in riparian forest management.

Contact: Paul Anderson, pdanderson@fs.fed.us

Partners: Oregon State University, 

USDI Bureau of Land Management

Conserving Martens, Sables, and 

Fishers: A Synthesis of Knowledge

Throughout North America, Europe, and 

Asia, all nine species of martens, sables, and 

fishers face significant conservation and 

management challenges, many of which are 

growing increasingly urgent. These semiarboreal forest carnivores contribute to the 

functioning of healthy ecosystems (especially 

as predators), serve as indicators of structurally complex habitats, and provide economic 

benefits as furbearers. 

The conservation of their populations will 

depend largely on the application of scientifically sound and practical programs for habitat 

and population management and public education. To facilitate the development of such 

programs, 62 biologists from around the world 

synthesized the current state of knowledge on 

the genus Martes to provide a reliable basis 

for organizing interdisciplinary knowledge 

and identifying key elements to communicate 

to wildlife biologists, resource managers, and 

policymakers. This book provides the first 

comprehensive synthesis of knowledge about 

these species in almost 20 years.

Contact: Keith Aubry, kaubry@fs.fed.us 

Partners: Alpha Wildlife Research and Management 

Ltd., University of Wyoming, USDA Forest Service 

Pacific Southwest Research Station 

For more information: Aubry, K.B.; Zielinski, W.J.; 

Raphael, M.G.; Proulx, G.; Buskirk, S.W., eds. 2012. 

Biology and conservation of martens, sables, and 

fishers: a new synthesis. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University 

Press. 580 p.

Michael Mengak, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org

Pine marten.
2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 47

In spring 2012, researchers located a reproductive den where wolverine kits are born and raised. This was the first documented evidence of 

wolverine reproduction along the West Coast.

Keith Aubry

First Documentation of Wolverine 

Reproduction in Washington State 

In April 2012, the North Cascades Wolverine 

Study located the reproductive dens (where 

young are born and raised until weaning) of 

two radio-collared female wolverines, one in 

North Cascades National Park and another in 

the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in 

Washington state. This is the first documented 

evidence of wolverine reproduction anywhere 

in the contiguous United States.

Since the North Cascades Wolverine Study 

began in 2006, station researchers have 

documented movements and habitat use by 10 

adult and subadult wolverines; confirmed the 

existence of a resident population in the North 

Cascades of Washington and southern British 

Columbia; and determined that Washington 

wolverines are genetically distinct from those 

in the U.S. Rocky Mountains and are likely 

connected to populations in the Coast Range 

of British Columbia.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is using 

these findings to inform the federal listing process for wolverine populations in 

the contiguous United States. The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest is using the 

findings to inform land management and 

conservation decisions, including selection of 

high-elevation forest ecosystems for restoration under the National Forest Foundation’s 

Treasured Landscapes campaign. 

Contacts: Keith Aubry, kaubry@fs.fed.us, 

Cathy Raley, craley@fs.fed.us

Partners: British Columbia Ministry of Environment; 

Seattle City Light; Seattle Foundation/Tom and 

Sonya Campion Fund; The Wolverine Foundation; 

USDA Forest Service and USDI Bureau of Land 

Management Interagency Special Status/Sensitive 

Species Program; USDA Forest Service National 

Carnivore Program, Okanogan-Wenatchee National 

Forest; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Washington 

Department of Fish and Wildlife
48 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

WATERSHEDS, FISH, AND WILDLIFE

Red Fox Is Native to 

Eastern United States

The red fox of the eastern United States is 

native and did not result from the translocation of European red foxes to North America 

during the Colonial era. Researchers found no 

evidence of European genotypes anywhere in 

North America. This disproves long-standing 

assumptions that red foxes were introduced to 

the eastern United States from Europe during 

the early 1800s and subsequently expanded 

their range westward. 

This finding indicates that management 

and conservation actions for the eastern red 

fox should be based on the assumption that 

it is a member of the native fauna and not 

an exotic species.

Contact: Keith B. Aubry, kaubry@fs.fed.us

Partners: California Polytechnic State University, 

Kansas State University, University of California-Davis 

Citation: Statham, M.J.; Sacks, B.N.; Aubry, K.B.; Perrine, 

J.D.; Wisely, S.M. 2012. The origin of recently established 

red fox populations in the United States: translocations 

or natural range expansions? Journal of Mammalogy. 

93: 52–65.

Nonnative Grass Found at Winter 

Feedground, But Effects Are Localized

Elk are fed hay in winter at about 37 locations 

in the western United States. The feeding compensates for losses in overwintering habitat 

and helps reduce damage to agricultural lands. 

Elk feeding can increase elk survival as well 

as viewing and hunting opportunities, and it 

can prevent vehicle-elk collisions by improving 

control of elk migrations. 

Researchers studied a feedground in western 

Wyoming that was established in 1981–1982 

and fed between 700 and 1,000 elk. Permanent 

vegetation transects were established and read 

in 1981 and read again in 2006. They found 

that supplemental feeding reduced forbs and 

shrubs and fostered the invasion of a nonnative 

grass that was part of the hay fed to elk. These 

effects appeared to extend only short distances 

beyond the feedground. 

These findings suggest it is good practice to 

avoid using feed with nonnative species capable of invasion. Researchers did not find naturalized populations of alfalfa and orchardgrass, 

the other hay species in the study, suggesting 

that these species are good options for feeding.

Contacts: Marty Vavra, martinvavra@fs.fed.us, and 

Catherine G. Parks, cparks01@fs.fed.us

Partners: Fort Keogh Range Livestock Research 

Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service; 

Wyoming Department of Game and Fish

Red fox.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

National Elk Refuge, Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Pringle Falls Experimental Forest, Oregon. Koa wood projects, University of Hawaii.

Wood and Biomass

From the first campfire to electricity-generating biomass facilities, wood fires 

have warmed us and our homes for thousands of years.  Because it is local, renewable, and 

plentiful, wood continues to be a valuable source of energy and income for many communities in 

Alaska and the rural West.  Station scientists are identifying opportunities where wood is a 

feasible choice for energy or building materials.  For example, they tested western hemlock, 

a plentiful species in southeast Alaska, and found that hemlock fuel pellets meet the national 

standard for home heating. This information was shared with three private-sector investor groups 

looking to purchase pelleting equipment or preparing business plans to build pellet facilities in 

southeast Alaska.  Trees are valued as an inherent part of many cultures, such as the koa 

tree in Hawaii. Old-growth koa is now rare, but recent studies demonstrating the usability of 

young koa wood help extend the cultural legacy of the species.

49

Rhonda Mazza

Eini Lowell
A residential woodpile. 

USDA Forest Service

50

WOOD AND BIOMASS

Heating With Wood in Alaska

Finding new markets for bioenergy is an 

important component of the Forest Service’s 

objectives to sustain healthy forests and 

address climate change. A recent study 

addressed the 

information 

needs of forest 

managers, 

entrepreneurs, 

and civic officials 

interested in using 

various forms of local biomass as sources of 

energy. Given the high transportation costs of 

importing products to Alaska, local markets 

are an important part of any business plan to 

produce energy products. The total volume 

required to convert oil or other liquid fuels 

used by the Alaska residential and commercial 

sectors to renewable wood energy is equivalent 

to the amount of wood needed to supply raw 

material to one large pulp mill annually. The 

economic incentive to convert to solid wood 

fuel exists at any heating oil price above $3.00 

a gallon. 

Contact: Allen Brackley, abrackley@fs.fed.us

Partners: Fairbanks Economic Development 

Corporation, University of Alaska-Fairbanks

 About 1.3 to 1.7 million cords of 

wood per year would be needed 

if all residential and commercial 

buildings in Alaska converted 

from oil heating systems to renewable wood energy.

 Some of that renewable wood 

energy could come from fuel 

pellets made of western hemlock. 

Researchers determined that 

western hemlock pellets comply 

with national performance 

standards for residential wood 

heaters. 

 A new screening tool helps 

Forest Service biomass coordinators assess the feasibility of proposed wood-to-energy projects. 

Highlights in 2012

Converting oil heating 

systems in residential and 

commercial buildings 

in Alaska to renewable 

wood energy would 

require 1.3 to 1.7 million

cords of wood per year. 
Fuel pellets made from species native to Alaska.

Allen Brackley

WOOD AND BIOMASS

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 51

Updated Summary of Fuel Wood 

Values for Pacific Northwest Trees 

Energy values for tree species that grow in 

the Pacific Northwest are essential to engineers designing any project involving the 

conversion to renewable energy systems. In 

particular, engineers need British thermal 

unit (BTU) values, the standard measure of 

energy used in the United States to evaluate 

the potential of fuel. Given the current interest 

in biofuels and wood-based heating systems, 

station scientists updated a report first published in 1987 by Oregon State University. The 

updated report provides fuel wood values, as 

well as formulas for converting and moisture 

content to BTU values. Thirty-four conifer 

and 20 hardwood species are included in the 

report, along with their fuel wood characteristics, such as specific gravity of wood and 

bark, percentage moisture content, and higher 

heating value of wood and bark. 

Contact: Allen Brackley, abrackley@fs.fed.us

Partners: Juneau Economic Development Council, 

Oregon State University, Weyerhaeuser Company

For more information: Wilson, P.L.; Funck, J.W.; Avery, 

R.B. 2010. Fuelwood characteristics of northwestern 

conifers and hardwood (updated). In: Parrent, D.J.; 

Funck, J.W.; Reeb, J.; Brackley, A.M., eds. Gen. Tech. 

Rep. PNW-GTR-810. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research 

Station. 

Western Hemlock Has Potential 

as Local Fuel Source

In southeast Alaska, the communities of Craig 

and Tok, native corporation Sealaska, the U.S. 

Coast Guard, and U.S. Forest Service successfully converted from heating with fuel oil to 

using renewable wood energy. Wood pellets are 

a preferred fuel type, and the demand for wood 

pellets is stimulating an interest among local 

business to use products from local materials. 

Western hemlock is the most common local 

softwood tree, but no information was available about using it in pellet production. To fill 

this void, station scientists conducted a study 

and determined that western hemlock pellets 

meet the Pellet Fuel Institute standard for wood 

heaters used in residential construction.

Three private sector investor groups are 

purchasing pelleting equipment or preparing 

business plans to build facilities in southeast 

Alaska. These groups have been supplied with 

this information, which reduced their investment risk. It is a resource for firms throughout 

the geographic range of western hemlock.

Contact: Allen Brackley, abrackley@fs.fed.us

Partner: Juneau Economic Development Council
Mark Nechodom

52 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

WOOD AND BIOMASS

New Tool Helps Evaluate Feasibility 

of Proposed Biomass Projects 

Forest Service staff often are asked for 

information by biomass project developers 

interested in developing biomass utilization 

projects near national forests. Agency staff also 

are often asked to help the developer obtain 

grant or loan funding from federal agencies 

for the proposed development. Meeting these 

requests can require significant staff time 

and resources, and many of the requests for 

information and support are for projects that 

are unrealistic and ultimately fail. As a result, 

much effort and resources are wasted. This 

screening tool allows users to quickly assess 

the feasibility of proposed wood-to-energy 

projects and rank those that pass the initial 

screening.

Contact: Jamie Barbour, jbarbour01@fs.fed.us

Partner: Beck-Carlson Biomass Energy Consultants

Fueling a 10-Megawatt Biomass 

Facility Would Require Coordinated 

Efforts in Central Washington

With thousands of forested acres in central 

Washington in need of treatment to reduce fire 

risk, landowners are looking for ways to offset 

treatment costs. One idea is to use the woody 

byproducts from thinning treatments to generate electricity. A study through the Integrated 

Landscape Assessment Project determined that 

no single ownership in the central Washington 

landscape could generate enough biomass to 

supply a hypothetical 10-megawatt biomass 

facility. A 10-megawatt biomass facility could 

meet the energy needs of 9,000 to 11,000 

households.

By working together on restoration 

treatments, state, tribal, federal, and private 

landowners might be able to generate a 

sustainable biomass supply for at least the 

next 50 years. 

Contact: Jamie Barbour, jbarbour01@fs.fed.us

Partners: Arizona Department of Game and Fish; 

Arizona Division of Forestry; Conservation Biology 

Institute; Ecosystem Management, Inc.; Firescape 

Group; Oregon Department of Forestry; Oregon State 

University; The Nature Conservancy; The Tapash 

Collaborative; University of New Mexico; University 

of Washington; USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain 

Research Station, Pacific Northwest Region, and 

Southwestern Region; Washington Department of 

Natural Resources 

A woody biomass power generating facility in northern California.
Eini Lowell

WOOD AND BIOMASS

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 53

Forty Minutes to the Mill

To offset fuel treatment costs, the Forest 

Service is considering using woody debris 

removed during the treatments to generate 

electricity at biomass facilities. Station scientists found that 

ranger districts 

relatively close 

to sawmills 

or biomass 

facilities treated 

more forest 

land than ranger districts farther away. The 

threshold distance for this shift is 40 minutes 

of driving time. 

This information supports policy strategies 

that support a network of wood-processing 

facilities distributed across forest-based 

communities, and confirm that transportation 

costs are a financial constraint on the ability 

to harness market forces in wildfire fuel 

reduction treatments. 

Contact: Susan Charnley, scharnley@fs.fed.us

Value-Added Potential for 

Ponderosa Pine Chips

Hot water extraction converts ponderosa pine 

chips into components that can be processed 

into value-added biofuels or bioplastics. 

Forests across the West are crowded with 

small trees, putting them at risk from fire, 

disease, and insect outbreaks. Small trees are 

expensive to remove, so land managers need 

ways to turn this woody biomass into products 

with economic value. 

One potential method 

uses hot water extraction 

to chemically convert 

low-value woody biomass 

into commercially useful 

compounds. 

In this study, smalldiameter ponderosa 

pines removed during a 

fuel reduction treatment 

underwent hot water 

extraction and yielded 

components that can be 

further processed into biofuels or bioplastics. 

These results establish the potential to maximize the benefits of woody biomass, a renewable resource, while also providing options 

for improving the feasibility of fuel reduction 

treatments.

Contact: Eini Lowell, elowell@fs.fed.us

Partners: State University of New York College 

of Environmental Science and Forestry, USDA 

Forest Service Deschutes National Forest, 

Washington State University

The dark chips have undergone hot water extraction; they are then ground 

and ready to be further processed into bioplastics. 

Proximity to sawmills and 

biomass facilities influences 

the location and extent 

of wildfire risk reduction 

treatments that incorporate

 biomass utilization. 
54 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

WOOD AND BIOMASS

The koa tree is valued in Hawaiian culture. Above, 

bowls made of young koa wood are displayed. 

Eini Lowell

Koa tree. 

© Steven J. Baskauf

Finding Value in Young-Growth 

Koa Wood

Koa wood (Acacia koa) is a culturally 

important and economically valuable species 

in the Hawaiian Islands. It is used for a 

range of products from flooring to ukuleles. 

Old-growth koa, used for manufacture of 

traditional 

Hawaiian wood 

products, is 

dwindling in 

supply, with 

limited amounts 

available in the coming years. Thousands 

of acres of young (less than 30 years old) 

koa stands have naturally regenerated after 

logging and other disturbances. Little data is 

available for these second-growth koa stands. 

Active management in these stands will make 

available small-diameter young-growth trees 

within the next 5 years. 

Two studies evaluated quality and attributes 

of both dead and dying old-growth koa and 

young-growth koa. Young-growth trees were 

sawn into lumber and the lumber is being used 

by woodworkers to demonstrate its quality 

characteristics in a number of different products. These studies extend the legacy of Acacia 

koa by demonstrating properties of this wood 

and promoting its utilization. The manufacture 

of traditional products for display and use 

in public institutions and cultural resource 

centers has allowed a broader public to register 

their opinions on the quality and value potential of wood from younger koa trees.

Contact: Eini Lowell, elowell@fs.fed.us

Partners: Hawaii Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, 

Hawaii Forest Industry Association, Kamehameha 

Schools, Parker Ranch, USDA Forest Service Northern 

Research Station and Pacific Southwest Research 

Station, University of Hawaii at Manoa 

A demonstration project 

informs Hawaiian forest 

industry about quality 

characteristics and utilization opportunities for 

young-growth Acacia koa. 
H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest

Established in 1948, the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest 

near Blue River, Oregon, is home to extensive research on 

watershed processes, forest ecology and management, biological 

diversity, and carbon and nitrogen dynamics.  Studies 

here have led to new management approaches and informed 

policy decisions regarding northwest forests, riparian zones, 

road systems, dead wood, and species conservation.  For 

60 years, continuous streamflow measurements have been 

collected in three watersheds within the forest. Stream gaging 

stations were initially established to study the effects of timber 

harvesting on water quantity. Since then, data have been used 

for a wide variety of studies—most recently to learn how 

carbon and other nutrients cycle through the stream 

system.  In 2012, a wireless system was installed to 

stream real-time data and images from remote sites to the Web. 

This “cyber infrastructure” has facilitated the remote installation 

of acoustic profilers to study airflow and cold air drainage 

dynamics at unprecedented resolution, and development of a 

phenocam network to integrate satellite imagery with groundbased observations on the effects of climate on budding and 

flowering of trees and plants.  All major climate and 

stream monitoring stations will be connected to the new 

wireless network in 2013.

Experimental Forests and Ranges

Highlights From H.J. Andrews and Starkey

Researchers prepare a hydrologic tracer as 

H.J. Andrews landscape. part of a whole-stream metabolism study. Sherri Johnson Rhonda Mazza

55
A “Smart Forest:” The installation of a wireless system 

allows real-time data and images from remote forest 

and stream sites to be transmitted to the Web. Sherri Johnson56 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

EXPERIMENTAL FORESTS AND RANGES

Carbon Stores in Old-Growth Forest 

Influenced by Diversity of Vegetation, 

Structure, and Local Conditions 

Forest ecosystems store vast amounts of carbon 

and mitigate human-caused climate change 

by acting as a large and persistent sink for 

atmospheric carbon dioxide. Yet forest carbon 

density varies greatly, globally, and at stand and 

landscape levels. Understanding the controls on 

carbon storage in forests will better enable forest 

managers to design effective mitigation strategies 

that both store more carbon and meet other 

management goals.

At the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest 

in the western Cascade Range, Forest Service 

and university researchers used airborne light  H.J. Andrews becomes a 

“smart forest” with a wireless 

system that transmits realtime data and images from 

remote sites.

 Long-term data from H.J. 

Andrews are highlighted in 

five articles of Bioscience.

 Amount of carbon stored 

in old-growth forest varies 

across landscape.

Highlights in 2012

56
Rhonda Mazza

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 57

detection and ranging (LiDAR) and a novel 

high-resolution simulation model of landscape 

dynamics (iLand) to identify the drivers of 

variation in carbon density for an old-growth 

forest landscape. The scientists found that 

stand-level carbon was highly variable across 

the old-growth part of the landscape. About 

55 percent of this variation in carbon was 

explained by environmental drivers such as 

radiation, soil, temperature, and precipitation. 

The remaining variation in carbon was largely 

attributable to diversity in species composition and structure, documenting a close link 

between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The findings suggest that maintaining 

species and structural diversity in stands will 

contribute to sustaining high levels of carbon 

in the forest. 

Contact: Thomas A. Spies, tspies@fs.fed.us

Partners: Oregon State University; University of 

Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Austria) 

Centuries-Old Trees Increase 

Growth Rate in Response to 

More Light and Moisture 

Openings or gaps in the forest canopy created 

by tree mortality lead to the diverse structure 

and composition of species of mature forests. 

The change in light, available nutrients, and 

moisture influence the type of vegetation that 

becomes established and the rate of growth. 

The fate of surrounding trees determines 

whether gaps increase in size, how much shading and root encroachment occurs, and how 

quickly gaps become occupied by recovering 

vegetation. 

Scientists designed a study 

to determine the 

effect of canopy 

gap size on mortality and growth on surrounding trees over a 

16-year period in mature (90 and 145 years 

old) and old-growth (350 to 525 years old) 

Douglas-fir-dominated forests in the Cascade 

Mountains. The study sites were located in the 

H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest and Wind 

River Experimental Forest. 

They found that diameter growth rates 

of trees were greater next to gaps than in 

controls. Growth patterns with respect to 

sun exposure suggested that trees in mature 

stands responded uniformly to increased soil 

moisture in gaps, while trees in old-growth 

stands had positive and negative responses to 

increased solar radiation depending on crown 

class and position around gaps. Results suggest that canopy gaps can create heterogeneity 

of ecosystem function through spatial variation in effects on growth and mortality across 

mature and old-growth stands. The results 

can be used to validate computer models that 

simulate forest growth and succession. 

Contact: Andrew Gray, agray01@fs.fed.us

Partner: Oregon State University

A field technician measures tree diameter at H.J. Andrews.

Study yields clues about 

how forest growth 

and mortality might 

change in response to 

future disturbances 

and climate change. 
58 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

EXPERIMENTAL FORESTS AND RANGES

Stream and Air Temperatures 

Aren’t Necessarily Synchronized

Recent warming of terrestrial climate 

in most parts of the world has motivated 

concern about corresponding increases 

in water temperature. Researchers found 

that streams across western North America 

with high human impacts showed a mix in 

temperature trends over time, while reference sites included a significant number 

with cooling trends in the last two to three 

decades. This lack of coherence between air 

and stream temperature in recent decades 

may be related to microclimate dynamics 

under forest canopies as well as complex 

interactions among climatic variables. 

Researchers also observed shifts in timing 

of summer stream temperature in relation to 

timing of low summer streamflow—both of 

which can be periods of stress for instream 

biota. Increased synchrony of these extreme 

events caused by climate change could 

magnify impacts over single stressors. 

These findings of trends and lack of trends 

are informing basic science and climate 

researchers as well as state and federal 

resource managers and the public. 

Contact: Sherri Johnson, sherrijohnson@fs.fed.us

Partners: U.S. Geological Survey Forest and 

Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, 

Oregon State University

Tours and Workshops

Experimental forests bring people together; 

they are hotspots for collaborative learning 

among researchers from different agencies 

and universities. The learning opportunities 

extend to students of all ages. In 2012, more 

than 1,500 people from 40 countries participated in tours, workshops, and symposia at 

H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest. A few of 

these events follow.

Visitors gather at H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest 

for an annual HJA Day.

Blue River Environmental Philosophers 

Gathering: This biannual gathering of 

philosophers and writers from the Pacific 

Northwest is an important event that 

helps build the humanities program at 

H.J. Andrews.

HJA Day: More than 140 scientists, students, federal, state, and utility managers, 

and general public attended this event to 

learn about current research activities

Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) 

Events: H.J. Andrews is also part of the 

national LTER network. It hosted several 

workshops and meetings that brought 

together scientists from around the 

country to discuss topics such as quantifying uncertainty in long-term climate and 

stream records. 

Research Camp for Natural Resources 

Students: This program through Lewis 

& Clark College provided mentorship for 

high school students interested in careers 

in natural resources. The 3-day research 

camp provided hands-on research training 

with H.J. Andrews graduate students and 

researchers. 
Frank Vanni

Starkey Experimental Forest and Range

Established in 1940, the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range is a unique 

research facility in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon. It is the Nation’s 

primary field location for scientific study of the effects of deer, elk, and cattle 

on ecosystems.  A game-proof fence surrounds most of the 28,000 acres 

of grasslands and rolling uplands forested with ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, 

grand-fir, and western larch. For the past 23 years, the movements of resident 

elk, deer, and cattle have been tracked electronically.  The research at 

Starkey is designed to answer questions posed by state, federal, and tribal 

land managers. For example, findings from two decades of elk-related studies 

conducted at Starkey are being used by state wildlife agencies in the western 

United States to modify policies on elk hunting to better accomplish elk 

management objectives.  These policy changes have substantially altered 

the design and implementation of elk hunting seasons on both public and 

private lands in all states where elk are hunted. 

Starkey landscape near La Grande, Oregon. Elk cow and calf. Rachel Cook

59

Frank Vanni
Gary Kramer, Natural Resources Conservation Service

 Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation 

honors station with national 

research award for long-term 

research.

 Key partners and clients pledge 

renewed support for Starkey 

research.

 The presence of archery hunters 

affects pregnancy rates and 

conception dates of female elk.

 Changing the point of entry to 

a pasture can help reduce overgrazing by cattle.

 Ungulate preference for deciduous 

vegetation may increase fire risk.

Highlights in 2012 Move the Gate to Help 

Reduce Overgrazing

Livestock grazing is often highly uneven 

across a pasture. Some areas can be grazed 

to unsustainable levels while other areas are 

grazed very little. Researchers hypothesized 

that moving the entry point to a pasture would 

change livestock distributions and relieve areas 

of overgrazing. They identified the 10 most 

heavily used 4-hectare locations in a study 

pasture in the Starkey Experimental Forest and 

Range and fitted cattle with global positioning 

system collars. Over the next 18 years, cattle 

alternately entered the pasture from one side 

or the other.

Researchers found that altering the stocking 

location greatly reduced grazing of overused 

regions. Cattle spent 12 percent more time on 

the 10 locations when they entered from one 

side of the pasture compared to when they 

entered from the other side. This study identifies a relatively simple and inexpensive way 

to address a central challenge in grazing land 

management. 

Contact: Marty Vavra, martinvavra@fs.fed.us 

Partners: Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research

 Center, Fort Keogh Range Livestock Research 

Center, Oregon State University, USDA Agricultural 

Research Service 

60

E X P E R I M E N T A L F O R E S T S 

 AND RANGES

Changing the entry point can be an inexpensive way to reduce overgrazing in certain areas of a pasture.
USDA Agricultural Research Service

2012 SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS 61

Presence of Archery Hunters 

Affects Pregnancy Rates and 

Conception Dates of Female Elk

Archery hunting in Oregon has increased 

dramatically over the past two decades. At the 

same time, the productivity of elk populations 

has been declining. This has raised concern 

that archery seasons may be disrupting elk 

breeding and contributing to the decline in 

population productivity. 

Researchers varied the number of archery 

hunters at the Starkey Experimental Forest 

and Range over 13 years to evaluate effects 

of archer density on reproduction of elk. 

They found that pregnancy rates in female 

elk declined with increasing archer density. 

Conception dates in females also were 4 days 

later during hunts with high archer density 

compared to low archer density. Pregnancy 

rates for 28 percent of the lactating female elk 

were reduced by high archer density, whereas 

archer densities had no significant effect on 

pregnancy rates for nonlactating females. 

These results suggest that high archer density 

and its interaction with nutritional condition 

of elk can reduce pregnancy rates of lactating 

females with low kidney fat. 

Contact: Michael Wisdom, mwisdom@fs.fed.us 

Partner: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Citation: Davidson, G.A.; Johnson, B.K.; Noyes, J.H.; 

Dick, B.L.; Wisdom, M.J. 2012. Effect of archer density 

on elk pregnancy rates and conception dates. Journal 

of Wildlife Management. DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.411.

Ungulate Preference for Deciduous 

Vegetation May Increase Fire Risk 

The grazing and foraging preferences of 

free-ranging cattle, elk, mule deer, and other 

ungulates can dramatically affect vegetation 

dynamics. In forests of western North America, intensive herbivory by ungulates may 

substantially reduce or eliminate deciduous 

species such as aspen, cottonwood, and willow. 

This may lead to greater establishment of 

unpalatable conifers that serve as ladder fuels 

for stand-replacing fires. The resulting fuel 

loads often require fuel reduction treatments 

to mitigate fire risk. In turn, the fuel treatments may facilitate additional recruitment 

of deciduous species and additional herbivory 

pressure. 

Working on the Starkey Experimental Forest 

and Range, researchers found that in study 

areas where ungulates were excluded after 

fuel reduction treatments—mechanical thinning followed by prescribed fire—densities of 

aspen, cottonwood, and willow were more 

than four times greater compared to treated 

areas open to ungulates. 

The amount of increase by deciduous 

species was surprising because aspen, 

cottonwood, and willow are not generally 

considered common understory species of dry 

inland coniferous forests. This study indicates 

that recruitment and long-term survival of 

aspen, cottonwood, and willow in coniferous 

forests of western North America requires a 

combination of episodic disturbances such 

as silviculture treatments and fire, followed 

by reductions in ungulate grazing pressure 

between these disturbances to facilitate plant 

establishment, growth, and survival.

Contact: Michael Wisdom, mwisdom@fs.fed.us

Partners: Global Conservation Program, Oregon 

State University Eastern Oregon Agricultural 

Research Center, National Council for Air and 

Stream Improvement, San Diego Zoo

Cattle and other ungulates prefer deciduous vegetation, passing over unpalatable conifers, which may 

then serve as ladder fuels.
Jeni Richardson

Members of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation tour Starkey Experimental Forest and Range.

62 PACIFIC NORTHWEST RESEARCH STATION

Tours and Workshops

More than 400 people visited the Starkey 

Experimental Forest and Range in 2012. 

These educational events are effective ways 

to exchange information and ideas among 

interested parties. 

Bonneville Power Association Riparian Tour:

Fifteen people toured Meadow Creek, the 

site of a future riparian-restoration-grazing 

research project at Starkey.

Starkey Futuring Workshop: Hosted at 

Eastern Oregon University, La Grande, Oregon, 

41 participants learned about past, present, 

and future research efforts at the Starkey 

Experimental Forest and Range, shared their 

opinions on the value of the research, and 

made recommendations on future research.

Starkey Tours for College Students: Twentyone students from Central Oregon Community 

College and 23 students with the Oregon 

State University Range Program toured the 

experimental forest and range to learn about 

past and current research. 

Starkey Tour for Natural Resource Professionals: In an event cosponsored by the 

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, 180 people 

took a day-long tour of the ungulate research 

facilities; more than 15 field presentations 

were given on results of long-term ungulate 

research. 

Starkey Tour for Rocky Mountain Elk 

Foundation Habitat Partners: In an event 

cosponsored by the Rocky Mountain Elk 

Foundation, 125 people took a day-long tour 

of the ungulate research facilities; more than 

10 field presentations were given on results 

of long-term ungulate research. 
2011 Rise to the Future Award

Kelly Burnett, a research fisheries biologist, 

was recognized by the U.S. Forest Service 

for her professional excellence in research 

achievements. 

2012 Forest Service/Bureau of Land Management Joint Conservation Project Award

Brad St. Clair and Francis Kilkenny, research 

geneticists, were honored for their contributions as members of the Great Basin Native 

Plant Selection and Increase Project.

Boone and Crockett Club

Bov Eav, PNW Station Director, the Starkey 

Ungulate Ecology Team, and their counterparts 

in the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 

were honored for developing innovative elk 

nutrition and habitat models for elk management in western Oregon and Washington.

Excellence in Herpetofaunal Conservation

Deanna Olson, a supervisory research ecologist, earned the annual Alison Haskell Award 

from Partners in Amphibian and Reptile 

Conservation.

J. Frances Allen Scholarship

Brooke Penaluna, a SCEP research fisheries 

biologist, received the annual award from the 

American Fisheries Society.

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation National 

Research Award

Bov Eav, PNW Station Director, the Starkey 

Ungulate Ecology Team, and their counterparts 

in the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife were recognized for their long-term elk 

research conducted at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range.

Honors and Awards

Sjölin Award

William E. Mell, a research combustion 

engineer, was honored by the International 

FORUM of Fire Research Directors for his 

outstanding contributions over past years 

to the Fire Dynamics Simulator development 

team and the resulting impact of the team’s 

work on the advancement of fire engineering 

around the world. 

Sustained Lifetime Achievement

Marty Vavra, supervisory rangeland scientist, was honored by the Society for Range 

Management for his long-term professional 

contributions to the art and science of range 

management.

USDA Secretary’s Honor Award

Brad St. Clair, research geneticist, was one 

of 30 members of the Conifer Translational 

Genomics Network Coordinated Agricultural 

Project honored for helping America promote 

sustainable agricultural production and biotechnology exports to increase food security.

Wildlife Society Outstanding Service 

Award 2012

The Oregon Chapter honored the station’s 

Starkey Ungulate Ecology Team—Mary 

Rowland, wildlife biologist; Jennifer Boyd, 

biological technician; Bridgett Naylor, 

geographer; Michael Wisdom, research 

wildlife biologist; and Martin Vavra,

supervisory rangeland scientist—for their 

accomplishments, which included developing, 

publishing, and providing training on new 

elk habitat use models for western Oregon 

and Washington.

Sarah Jovan

Lichen and moss ground cover, Caribou–

Poker Creek Research Watershed, Alaska.

63
William O. Douglas Wilderness, Washington.

Station Director

Robert Mangold (Acting)

P.O. Box 3890

Portland, OR 97208-3890

Phone: 503-808-2100

E-mail: rmangold@fs.fed.us

Assistant Director for Administration

Lesley Kelly

P.O. Box 3890

Portland, OR 97208-3890

Phone: 503-808-2102 

E-mail: lakelly@fs.fed.us

Assistant Director for Communications 

and Applications

Cynthia L. Miner

P.O. Box 3890

Portland, OR 97208-3890

Phone: 503-808-2135

E-mail: clminer@fs.fed.us

Assistant Director of Research

Bernard (Shiloh) Parresol

P.O. Box 3890

Portland, OR 97208-3890

Phone: 503-808-2115

E-mail: bparresol@fs.fed.us

Program Managers

Ecological Process and Function

Beatrice Van Horne

Forestry Sciences Laboratory

3200 SW Jefferson Way

Corvallis, OR 97331

Phone: 541-750-7357

E-mail: bvhorne@fs.fed.us

Goods, Services, and Values

Robert Deal (Acting)

Forestry Sciences Laboratory

P.O. Box 3890

Portland, OR 97208-3890

Phone: 503-808-2015

E-mail: rdeal@fs.fed.us

Focused Science Delivery

R. James Barbour (Acting)

Forestry Sciences Laboratory

P.O. Box 3890

Portland, OR 97208-3890

Phone: 503-808-2542

E-mail: jbarbour01@fs.fed.us

Land and Watershed Management

Susan Alexander (Acting)

Forestry Sciences Laboratory 

11305 Glacier Highway

Juneau, AK 99801-8545

Phone: 907-586-7801

E-mail: salexander@fs.fed.us

Resource Monitoring and Assessment

Gretchen Nicholas

Forestry Sciences Laboratory

P.O. Box 3890

Portland, OR 97208-3890

Phone: 503-808-2034

E-mail: gnicholas@fs.fed.us

Threat Characterization and Management

Marcia Patton-Mallory

Forestry Sciences Laboratory

1133 N Western Ave.

Wenatchee, WA 98801

Phone: 206-732-7846 

E-mail: mpattonmallory@fs.fed.us

Western Wildland Environmental 

 Threat Assessment Center

Nancy Grulke

3160 NE 3rd St.

Prineville, OR 97754

Phone: 541-416-6583

E-mail: ngrulke@fs.fed.us

PNW Research Station Organization

64

Keith Routman
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its 

programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, 

age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, status as a parent 

(in education and training programs and activities), because all or part of an 

individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program, or retaliation. 

(Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs or activities.) If you require this 

information in alternative format (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.), contact 

the USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (Voice or TDD). If you require 

information about this program, activity, or facility in a language other than 

English, contact the agency office responsible for the program or activity, or any 

USDA office. To file a complaint alleging discrimination, write USDA, Director, 

Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-

9410, or call toll free, (866) 632-9992 (Voice). TDD users can contact USDA through 

local relay or the Federal relay at (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (relay 

voice users). You may use USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Forms AD3027 or AD-3027s (Spanish) which can be found at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/

complaint_filing_cust.html or upon request from a local Forest Service office. 

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 

Fairy Falls, Oregon.

Online Supplements

2012 Science Accomplishments of the Pacific Northwest 

Research Station is available online, along with PNW 

research program reports and all 2012 publications by 

PNW scientists, at http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/sa/2012/.

Credits

Assistant Director for Communications 

 and Applications—Cynthia L. Miner

Managing Editor—Rhonda Mazza

Writer—Rhonda Mazza

Publishing Director—Frank Vanni

Graphic design—Keith Routman and Rhonda Mazza

Front cover photographs—(left) H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Oregon, by Rhonda Mazza; (right) Goat Rocks 

Wilderness, Washington, by Keith Routman.

Back cover photographs—(left) Pyrola asarifolia, by 

Rhonda Mazza; (right) urban trees in Seattle, Washington, 

by Kathy Wolf.

All uncredited photographs—U.S. Forest Service staff

United States 

Department of Agriculture

Forest 

Service

Hugh Luce
February 2013

Pacific Northwest Research Station

333 SW First Avenue

P.O. Box 3890

Portland, OR 97208-3890

www.fs.fed.us/pnw/